Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
by Drago321
Summary: This story is a novelization of the video game, except I have personally detailed it...a lot and it has a better storyline than the game. Read it to believe it! The T rating is for violence, there is no swearing or suggestive themes. Part one is done!
1. Mysterious Dreams

Story #1 by: Drago321

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time

Author's Note: These chapter divisions are taken from the walkthrough divisions on . There are 4 'Parts' to this story, each consisting of 5 chapters. I will update in chapters, not parts. Parts exist just to pace me. And finally, this is a novelized version of the video game of the same name, so I do not own Nintendo, Alpha Dream, or any of the characters presented here. I do, however, own the following story.

PART 1: INVASION

CHAPTER 1: MYSTERIOUS DREAMS

Mario was dreaming. He was drifting through a strange place. It was a deepish- blue field of stars. There were purple-ish clouds drifting around. The majority of them looked like balls of fluff, but some resembled Mushrooms, emblems of the Mushroom Kingdom.

He was flying upwards, always upwards, until he came to a sudden stop. He stood (floated) staring at a very strange sight. It was a large purple planet with white spots covering it. But this wasn't any old planet. It was shaped like a Mushroom.

He must have been in the depths of space, because he had never seen anything like this planet, even through the telescope in his sitting room. He also noticed that this planet was isolated, distant, cut off, seemingly from the rest of the world. For it did not have a sun.

He began his new journey towards the planet. It had a bare, rocky surface, with purple-colored stone plateaus rising menacingly all over it's surface. It was a bit creepy. He even saw some strange forms on the planet. They looked a bit like Toads, the royal servants of the Mushroom Kingdom. With large mushroom shaped heads and small powerful bodies. But they were colored like the planet was; purple overall and spotted with white, and their hands were clawed and white. They just stood there, staring out into the cosmos. Not one of them moved, or took any notice that a very strange being indeed had entered their domain.

As he drew even nearer, he saw that the rocky ground was cracked, fractured. He also saw some purple Mushrooms. They were just rotting, decaying away. He then realized that (maybe it was because he was in a dream, maybe he just determined this) these beings were searching...searching for something.

This planet did not look at all habitable, so they must need a better living space. All of the purple was a little creepy. But, then again, all of the red would be a little overwhelming to visitors to the Mushroom Kingdom.

As the Mushroom in front of him died at last, one of the creatures walked dreamily up to him. Oh no, they didn't know he was there. The thing was staring at something, a gleaming dot in the horizon. Once again, Mario knew something. They had found somewhere to live.

Good, they deserve somewhere nice and peaceful. He will soon regret that thought, for he thought dreadfully wrong.

Suddenly, the creature whipped out a telescope, and started shouting what sounded like cheering. Mario went to have a look at what he was seeing. He knew one thing immediately; this was a very powerful telescope. For he could see a flag. A flag with a Mushroom on it, at the top of a tower...then he awoke with a jolt.

He was sweating, he didn't know where he was...it was early. The sun hadn't even come up. He was in his room, in his house near the castle.

The castle he had just seen. Through that telescope. In his dream. He decided to just shake it off as a coincidence. He was, however, just having a dream? Surely, surely.

But first...he must know...he may have missed it...

"I must be completely crazy!" he said to himself. His room was tidy, with red walls, and an oak cabinet and dresser. That was all he needed. He quickly changed into his traditional red shirt and blue overalls. He stalked out into the hall, headed for his sitting room. The hall was decorated in green and red, and Luigi's bedroom door was ajar across from his. Along the hall, there were pictures of a recent vacation that Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth, (the Princess' personal servant) a few Toads, and the Princess herself took. They had gone to a place called Isle Delfino three years ago. Bowser Jr. had been there, disguised as a shadowy version of Mario himself. He ended up causing a bit of trouble with this disguise, and only the end of their vacation was pleasant.

He entered the sitting room, which had a large window to the right, and another door to the left.

There were puffy little chairs all around, and a large telescope near the window. He walked over and looked through it. He was, of course, looking for the purple planet in his dream. Either it wasn't there, or his telescope wasn't powerful enough.

He didn't exactly know why he was so worried about the dream, but something told him that what had just occurred was not an ordinary dream.

He went through the next door to find himself in the familiar square room in his home. There were about a half-dozen doors leading to various places in the house here. The brothers named it the 'plaza'. There were potted plants in the corners of the room, and a few priceless paintings of themselves and the princess done by Professor E. Gadd's paint stick. They had signs on each door to tell what rooms they led to. The one Mario just emerged out of read 'sitting room'.

He quickly walked through the door marked 'kitchen', which was the door to the immediate left of the 'sitting room'. He was quite hungry. As he opened the door, he saw that Luigi had already begun his breakfast, and he already had his clothes on: a green shirt with blue overalls. Mario sat down and pulled some eggs and toast toward him. He poured some orange juice for himself, and began the daily conversation that always took place.

"I had a very strange dream last night." he began.

"Really? I did, too." Luigi replied. "What was your dream about?"

Mario launched into a lengthy explanation about his dream, ending in:

"So, I realized that they had found the Mushroom Kingdom. But it didn't seem like a normal dream...it felt almost...real." A very strange look had come over Luigi. But his brother had stayed calm and let Mario continue with his story.

"What was your dream about?" Mario asked.

Luigi then hastily began describing his adventure:

He was amazingly small; tiny, even! He was in Peach's Castle, and beside him was his brother Mario, as a baby! He suddenly realized (he didn't know how he knew...) that he must be a baby, too!

From the looks of it, they had just walked in the front door. It was open, leaving the sunlight to pour in from outside. There were little potted trees all around, and two doors to their left and right.

There were also some large double-doors lying open in front of them. Red velvet carpets were leading to all of the doors, with steps leading up to the double-doors. The marble floor was patterned in Mushrooms. Toadsworth, except with a smoother face and a black mustache, walked out of the double doors and started towards the child brothers.

He jumped in surprise at the sight of them.

"Oho!" he exclaimed. "Young Masters Mario and Luigi! I've anxiously awaited your arrival! Yes, indeed, the princess craves playmates, I'm afraid. She's rather...tantrummy."

_Is that a word?_ Luigi thought. He glanced to Mario, but he didn't seem to mind Toadsworth's strange grammar.

"She resides currently in the double-doors beyond me. Please go to her at once!"

This room was long and narrow, with polished white floors. The carpet ran all the way up to the front of the room, and there were even more little potted trees all around. Luigi wondered how the Mushroom Kingdoms' obsession with potted plants began.

Midway up the room, the carpet split off; there were two more doors to Luigi's left and right. But the hall continued on.

As the babies walked on, they at last reached the end of the room. The carpet had a spectacular finish, ending right in front of a large throne. The end of the carpet was patterned with three Toads, the one in the middle wearing a majestic crown. The throne was of the same design, only gold. There were also two windows behind the throne overlooking the courtyard.

The babies came to an abrupt stop for, lying at the foot of the throne were three unconscious Toads. Toadsworth ran up behind the babies and exclaimed, "I say! What's this hullabaloo? What of the princess?"

Suddenly, an evil laugh rang out of the shadows of the room: " Bwah ha ha ha!!"

The three startled conscious people started and glanced around for the source. Then, a small lizard creature fell from the ceiling, holding Princess Peach! (The baby Princess.)

It took Luigi a few seconds to realize that the lizard thing was none other than a child Bowser! Bowser was the Koopa King, foretold long ago, when humans had just come into existence. _The Koopas had ruled then_, Luigi remembered, _then, when we took over, a prophecy was made about the fore coming Koopa King, named Bowser, who would steal back the throne. But, it also warned against humans of red and green, humans who would end Bowser's reign._ _Well_, Luigi thought, _we've already taken care of that. Many times, in fact!_

Actually, the fact that Mario and Luigi had defied all odds in defeating Bowser (for he knew of the prophecy) had spread across the galaxy!

Bowser gave his evil laugh once more: ("Bwah ha ha ha!!") and said, "I, Prince Bowser, am taking Princess Peach with me! You two babies can scram!" For a second, Luigi started. He forgot that in this dream, he was a baby. Toadsworth stormed up to Baby Bowser.

"Absolute nonsense!" he exclaimed. "I rather think that you'll do NO SUCH THING! EN GARDE!" Bowser slowly walked up to Toadsworth and...blew flame at him! It started a little fire on his head, but he quickly put it out. (Being the responsible babysitter that he is.) He then, promptly, collapsed.

"Bwah ha ha ha!! What a WUSS!" Bowser said as Luigi rushed to Toadsworth's aid. Now Luigi was remembering this day a little clearer. This was their first meeting with Bowser! They had been enemies before this day, but this was the first attempt at Peach that Bowser made. But that didn't explain why he was uneasy about this day...they trumped Bowser.

"Your turn, Super Diaper Bro!" Bowser yelled at Baby Mario, who had stepped up to the King.

And so it began.

Bowser dropped Peach off by Luigi and went to face Baby Mario. Bowser, not expecting it, quickly took a jump to the head from Mario.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "What do you have in those shoes, baby? Metal?!" Baby Mario giggled. Bowser ran forward and blew flame at Mario. Mario, who WAS expecting an attack, jumped over the small fire with ease.

"Oh no!" Bowser yelled.

But no one noticed his ramblings because, at that moment, Toadsworth struggled out of Luigi's grasp and crawled to Mario.

"Young Master Mario!" Mario started; for Toadsworth had just leaped up and started walking towards him. Bowser stood there, with his mouth open. "Sorry about fainting a moment ago...is this your first battle? Shall I teach you how to fight?" Mario shook his head no.

_Ah, _Luigi thought, _that's because the tough old cook, Michel, taught us how to fight on his day off. _Sigh..._the war took him, as it did many others. Why Bowser enjoyed harming people, no one knew...it was just his nature, as a Koopa, maybe._

"Ah. Truly? Very well, young Master Mario!" Luigi thought that he saw the ghost of a smile on his face. The war would not start for another 15 years. "You are the young master!" he said as he walked away to join Luigi.

Bowser was still agape at the fact that Toadsworth had gotten up so easily. So...Mario got another shot in.

"Hey! Ow! Grrrrr...you punk!" And Bowser came in yet again with an attack, and Baby Mario deftly jumped over it. Mario chased Bowser as he was fuming over another miss and bopped him on the head again. "Arrrgh!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, Toadsworth spoke up. "Why, I must say, you have AMAZING reflexes for your age! I sense someone's style in you...it reminds me of...Michel, the cook."

Once again, Bowser's mouth fell open. "_Michel?_ You mean the professional fighter?!"

"Yes," Toadsworth replied, "he taught the twins to fight, if I am not mistaken. But he is off on a vacation in Thwomp Volcano now."

Bowser was so stunned, he let a bit of flame out of his mouth. Mario also dodged this. Now Mario came back around with yet another jump attack. "Geez, you can fight better than me!" Mario was mildly distracted by this comment, as his little brain was trying to determine what the word 'Geez' meant.

Bowser then rushed up to him and blew flame once more. Mario tried to escape, but it singed the baby clothes on part of his arm. He whimpered in pain, but tried not to look at the now black sleeve. "Ah hah!" Bowser cried in triumph.

But then, Mario, inspired by his pain, leaped and dealt a final blow to Bowser. He instantly crumpled.

"Urrrg... blaaagh..."

He was defeated.

"I'm...I'm a PRINCE! I can't lose to you! Bluuuuuuurgh..." Toadsworth fainted from the excitement. Luigi went over to celebrate with Mario. But the worst was yet to come...

The ground began to shake. Luigi heard a sound like a vehicle, but not so much. _A very strange vehicle, if one. _He thought. He also noticed that the windows were glowing rainbow. Both babies looked startled.

Then, something outside exploded. Rubble from the ceiling started falling to the floor. Luigi looked out the window and found two alien saucers firing purple lasers at the castle!

The saucers were white, and their pilots looked like purple Toads. There were about four of them there. No, five! Suddenly, a cloud moved aside, and...

There were HUNDREDS of them!

Then, he awoke.

"So, that's my dream." Mario could see all of the lines creasing on his brother's face. He guessed that they were there on his, too. "There was something that made me uneasy that day." Luigi said. "With your dream and mine, well, I think we can put two and two together."

"Well, I don't know..." Mario replied.

"I mean, think about it! If these guys are real, then they might be a bit of a problem. You've got to admit that that was no ordinary dream. For either of us."

"Yeah...it didn't really feel like a dream...it felt real." There was a long pause.

"How about we just forget this ever happened and go up to the castle? Remember, the Professor is revealing his new time machine today?" Mario finished. "Peach wanted us to be there for her first time travel."

They left the kitchen, their breakfasts untouched. In the plaza, they went out through the door directly to their right. It read 'exit'. Mario opened the front door into bright sunlight. Their house was on a plain about a mile from the castle. It used to belong to the gardener, but since Mario and Luigi have been in the kingdom, this house was given to them.

And so they started up the long trek to the castle.

Meanwhile...

A middle-aged Toad sat down to begin watching the morning news. He turned on his T.V., and saw a photograph of the palace on it. Then a subtitle said, "Mushroom Kingdom News Flash!" The picture changed and the Toad read on:

It now showed Professor E. Gadd standing in front of the castle with what looked like a spaceship for one next to him. Paparazzi were flashing cameras all around.

"That man has to be older than I am! And getting all that publicity!" the Toad exclaimed. The subtitle read, "Famed inventor Professor E. Gadd has completed his time machine!"

Next, it showed the Professor holding up a brilliant blue star with a green middle. The subtitle read, "The machine's energy source? This amazing Cobalt Star!" It's radiance sparkled throughout the whole crowd.

Next came a picture of Mario and Luigi, with several Toads standing around. There were new words along the subtitle, as well, "The unveiling took place at Peach's Castle and was seen by luminaries from near and far."

Now, it showed the beautiful Princess Peach inside the machine with two Toads, a pink one and a blue one with glasses. The caption read, "Princess Peach was reportedly overjoyed by the contraption..."

Now, a photo of the time machine lifting off the ground... "So overjoyed, in fact, that she promptly set off on a voyage into the Mushroom Kingdom's past!"

And last, it showed a picture of Professor E. Gadd and Toadsworth (now quite aged) looking worried, and Mario and Luigi glancing towards the sky. The caption read, "Of course, her able ward Toadsworth is beside himself with worry. Details at 11!"

"CUT!"

"That was GREAT! Good job, well done, Peach, wherever you are!" said the Lakitu who was filming the report from his cloud. "Made a great broadcast! Everyone will be COMPLETELY hyped about this amazing discovery!"

Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth, and E. Gadd were standing at the spot where Princess Peach had just left.

"PRIIIIIIINCESS!" Toadsworth yelled. "Please return, Your Majesty!" Even though he knew she couldn't hear him. (He was very protective.) "I say...I am simply beside myself with worry!"

"Heh heh heh. No need to worry yourself, my machine's safe as can be." E. Gadd said comfortingly to Toadsworth. "Why, there's a 99.999999999 chance the Princess will return!"

"THE HORROR!" Toadsworth exclaimed. And, being a very old Toad, he collapsed. Luigi ran up to Toadsworth and exclaimed, "Oh no! Toadsworth, wake up! Toadswoooorth!"

"Whoa, he worried so hard, he KO'd himself!" Mario exclaimed, and stepped forward a bit. "I'm pretty sure Toadsworth has a Refreshroom in his room. Maybe that'll help!"

"Well, my business is done here! I'll just...leave!" the Lakitu flew out the front door without another word.

"Dude, you'd better hurry, he's getting pale!" Luigi exclaimed. "I think he keeps it in a block. Handy. Just jump under the block. It's green and has a star on it. The Refreshroom, I mean. GO!"

Mario hurried down the hall, for he was in the throne room. He turned right at the first door he saw, and came into a slightly smaller hallway with four doors. One across from him, and two at the other end of the room. This room had fat pillars running along it, and also the traditional Mushroom carpet. The white floor was patterned with Mushrooms, as was the entrance hall. There were also soft red lanterns illuminating the room with a nice glow. The view out of the shuttered windows was nice, too: a garden of pink and blue flowers. He headed down the hall and saw a Mushroom and two spare coins.

Mario liked to collect junk, so he picked up the coins and ate the Mushroom. He hadn't had breakfast, after all. And, everyone always left junk everywhere, so it was pretty much heaven for Mario. Heaven. That's a good explanation of the Mushroom Kingdom.

He headed out of the bottom left door into a rectangular room. This room had stairs leading up to the second floor of the castle. The were three doors in this room, the one he had just come out of, one that eventually lead to the garden, and one that lead to the Toads' quarters.

The floor was patterned with the traditional white Mushrooms, and the stairs and walls were made of blue brick. The stairs also had a gold Mushroom-patterned lining on them. This room was actually open and he could see the surrounding trees and smell the fresh air.

But he turned left and headed through the next door, not before he pocketed another Mushroom. (For Luigi!)

He was now in the hallway where the two Toad bedrooms were. This room was colored a soft red, with the same red lanterns in the previous hallway. The same patterned Mushrooms covered the floor, and the same red carpet was draped on the ground.

Mario walked past the first door and down some stairs to the second door. Along the way, he passed the dirt path leading out to the courtyard. Don't get me wrong, this hall was indoor, but Toads are traditionally outdoorsy guys, so they liked a bit of fresh air.

Mario now entered Toadsworth's room. He did have to appreciate the guy's decorating skills. This was a brown room, with a bed in the far corner, a nightstand near the bed with a normal Mushroom, a book, and two pots with plants in them on it. Also, there was a table and chair with books piled on the table. Above the table, in between two lanterns, was a gigantic portrait of Peach. In the nearest corner there was a large bookcase with three shelves. The first two shelves were stuffed with books, while the third had several cups of coffee on it. On the top of the bookcase were many potted plants. And in the center of the room was...a small garden! It was a low wall, easy enough to step over, with a half-dozen plants growing in it.

Yes, that's right, Toadsworth was and is the gardener. The Refreshroom was in the middle of the garden in a block.

Mario stepped over the garden wall and, being careful not to tread on the plants, jumped up and hit the block. He immediately grabbed the Refreshroom as it flew out, and stepped back over the garden wall. He hurried back the way he came, through Toadsworth's bedroom, past the other Toad room, past the stairwell, up the hall, and into the throne room again.

When he entered, he saw that two Toads had joined the party, along with a Toad doctor, and that Luigi and the Toads were holding Toadsworth on a stretcher. E. Gadd had left. One Toad said, "Toadsworth! Any last words? Can I have your cane?"

"Princess..." Toadsworth whispered.

The other Toad stormed up to the doctor and said, "Doctor! SPEAK, man! Will Toadsworth recover?" There were tears in his eyes.

"Oh, the prognosis is grim..." the doctor replied. "I'm afraid our dear Toadsworth has worried himself into a state of shroomshock. Without the restorative properties of a Refreshroom, there's naught we can do."

"Toadsworth!" yelled the first Toad.

Then Mario revealed himself.

"Oh, good!" the doctor exclaimed.

"Thank goodness!" the Toads said in unison.

"Mario!" Luigi exclaimed.

A gold light enveloped Toadsworth and it started rippling. Then, as fast as it came, it was gone. Toadsworth leaped up out of bed and landed on his feet. He was glowing gold.

"Huzzah!" he exclaimed as the glow faded away. Suddenly an intense rumbling was heard. Everybody in the room glanced around for the source. Outside the window, a large flashing light could be seen, on, off, on, off...

Then, right in the middle of the light, a red and gold spiral appeared. It seemed to stretch all the way through time! The whole world turned white, and the time machine came flying out of the hole.

"Oh my gosh! It's gonna hit us!" a Toad screamed.

Indeed, it was headed right for the throne room! Before anyone could even register that fact, though, it crashed through the window with a sickening crunch of metal-on-metal.

When the dust settled, everyone saw that the machine was beaten up, scratched, and completely battle-worn. E. Gadd broke the silence by saying, "Well, take a gander at that! The time machine's returned!" he hurried over to examine it.

"Somethings amiss, though...what could have gone wrong?" he concluded. Now Toadsworth and Luigi hurried up toward the device.

Toadsworth exclaimed, "Oh, Princess! Welcome home!" At that moment, the door to the machine opened, and Toadsworth spoke again, "Your Majesty! I've been fraught with—AUUUUUUUUGH!"

For he had seen a pair of glowing red eyes in the machine and heard a growling noise...then, a large green monster with clawed hands crawled its way out of the time machine!

E. Gadd immediately backed off, but Luigi and Toadsworth (still standing on his hospital bed) were rooted to the spot, to scared to move.

The creature pulled itself out fully, and the machine's door closed. It was a green monster, with a cone-shaped head. It had tiny feet and clawed arms, with yellow spots all over it. It had a yellow mouth, with pointy teeth that could easily rip flesh.

It opened its mouth and roared, "ARRRRRREEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH!" and Luigi instantly fled.

"W-Wait! Master Luigi!" Toadsworth exclaimed.

The monster then dove for Toadsworth. He barely got his arm up in time to take the blow instead of his face. However, there were now two deep cuts bleeding openly in his sleeve. Thankfully, though, the force of the monster's blow sent Toadsworth and the bed flying backwards.

Mario ran up to the monster and beckoned tauntingly. The monster leapt back and roared twice more. ("ARRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!")

And so it began.

Mario immediately ran forward and pounded the creature on the head. The thing ran forward and began spinning like a top, claws out. Mario gulped.

"He's gonna get sliced!" Luigi yelled from the background.

But no. Mario jumped and deftly landed on the creature's head, rebounding his own attack.

"ARRREEEHHH!" the monster yelled in anger.

Toadsworth called to Mario. "Master Mario!" Mario started and looked around.

"It's been some time since you battled last, correct?" the doctor was attending to his wounds. "Do you require a refresher course?"

"No, I don't, actually! I, uh, was just watching some this morning, thanks!" In reality, he actually was, because Luigi had described his dream very accurately. But, it had been very long since his last fight.

"I see, I see...very well, Master Mario! That reminds me of another...never mind! You are the master!"

Mario quickly stomped on the thing's head again. It roared in pain, and attacked again. (Quite carelessly, in fact, because Mario countered this, as well!)

Mario stomped him again...the monster was looking quite weak! Now he was getting cheers from the crowd.

"Go Mario!"

"Cut him, Mick! CUT HIM!"

"Beat that alien punk!"

This last comment caused Mario to lose focus. _Alien...the purple planet...the clawed hands...but it could not be...this thing was green...even so... "If these guys are real, they could be a real problem." "no ordinary dream..."_

A harsh blow brought Mario back to reality. He felt a warm liquid oozing down his face, and touched it. Blood! The monster had struck him! He needed to get back in the game!

The monster was a little dizzy from having spun and actually hit for once, so Mario took that chance and leaped. He hit! While the monster was still dazed, he hit again!

It was severely weakened now! He struck again...surely the last blow...no! He leaped back to a defending position just in time to...jump up above the creature. He was too late to strike a counter, but at least he dodged it, and the monster was still reeling.

He took one last leap, landed on the monster, and watched it crumple.

"Finally! Yes!"

While everyone else was celebrating, a Toad ran up into the time machine, and E. Gadd went to examine the monster. Soon, the Toad came back out, and exclaimed, "No sign of the Princess! No! NO! NOOOOO! That awful monster..."

Surely the Princess hadn't been in the time machine when it returned...Mario went forward also to look inside. There was no sign of a struggle. Even so, where was the Princess?

E. Gadd spoke Mario's feelings. "Just take 'er easy, now. She wasn't this feller's breakfast."

He pulled out what looked like a small, double-screened T.V. It was a Nintendo D.S. (Mario knew it to be modified so that it could perform various features.)

"My D.S. time radar puts Peach somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom of yesteryear."

Ah, this must have been his time radar, where he could find someone in a specific time. He created it along with the time machine, for emergencies.

The Toad looked wary. He said, "Time radar? TIME RADAR?! You just made that up! Where'd this monster come from, then?"

"That I don't know. It isn't from the Kingdom." E. Gadd replied. "And with the time machine this dinged up, we're not going anywhere."

"So, you're saying that we're not saving the Princess?" Mario inquired.

Before E. Gadd could reply, Luigi came running up to them. They had left into the courtyard to bid the doctor farewell. He started jabbering incessantly to E. Gadd.

"What's that?" E. Gadd said. "Calm down and speak slowly!"

"Okay, there's a weird hole in the courtyard...it's just like the hole the time machine came through! Come and see it!"

"Hmmm...it's possible the return of the machine tore holes in the time continuum." E. Gadd said. "To the courtyard, fellers!" He promptly transported there, (using an improved version of the one from Mario Party 6) and the Toad followed at a brisk walk.

"Luigi, I want a quick word with you..."

Mario told Luigi his suspicions about the creature, and discovered that Luigi had noticed some of the same similarities in the creature's physique. He also told him about his new suspicions; that these 'time holes', as well as the creature and the disappearance of the Princess could be linked to their dream about a supposed past takeover. This is where he lost Luigi.

"I'm telling you, there's a connection!" Mario said.

"There was something weird about that alien, but this'll just be sorted out soon! I thought we weren't going to worry about this?"

"Well, why have I felt uneasy about that day, then?"

"You probably just had a bad day, or something."

"No, it something more-"

"Ah...guys, are you coming?" the Toad had backtracked to them.

"Yes, of course!" Luigi said, aggravated.

"Could you do me a favor?" the Toad said. "Could you stand guard here and keep that thing from escaping and eating everyone?"

"Maybe Mario could just pound it down again!" Luigi replied angrily.

"Okay, bro! I'll just drop it! Geez."

Mario and the Toad headed for the doors.

"What's with him?" the Toad said.

"Nothing you need to worry about. We're fine."

"Great..." muttered Luigi from the back of the room.

"Luigi...just come on, it's probably not going to escape!" the Toad said.

"Okay, sweet!" Luigi then joined them.

They hurried through the throne room, then the entrance hall, and out into the garden. Mario and Luigi hurried off to join the others. The courtyard was a peaceful place. The grass was perfectly mowed, and little toads were carved spectacularly into it. There was also a perfectly paved dirt path leading up to the doors. It made a very nice entrance to the castle. Simple, yet elegant.

E. Gadd was staring at a mound of earth with another Toad. There was the same spiral of red and gold within it.

"As I suspected..." he said. "IT'S A TIME HOLE! Yessiree, this time hole is a doorway to the past! No doubt about it, it appeared because of that time machine."

Mario and Luigi hurried over to it and Luigi crouched down like he wanted to pounce. He jumped, and only landed on the edge of the mound.

"Careful there, young feller! If I'm right, that time hole leads back in time! It's swirling clockwise! Yep, to a younger Mushroom Kingdom. Question is, to WHERE in the Mushroom Kingdom?! Could someone even make it back if they went through? Hmmm..."

Mario just thought of a wonderful idea, and quickly told E. Gadd about it.

"Hm? Use this time hole to rescue the Princess? There would be a lot of guesswork...it might send you too far back, or you might not ever get back...it would be worth the risk, though. The Koopas have remained silent for quite a while...they may be planning something. Without the Princess, it would be total chaos...Are you sure that you would volunteer? It's our best chance!"

"MASTER MARIO!!"

It was Toadsworth again. He was calling from inside the castle. Apparently he had snuck in while they were all deep in conversation. He was rolling out of the castle, still on his bed.

The next thing that happened changed their lives forever. Toadsworth hit the mound of earth with his bed and leaped off it. Luigi was shaken by the impact and was wobbling dangerously on the edge of earth.

Slowly, slowly, he tipped in. He was standing flat on the spiral for a second, then a bright light enveloped him and he disappeared.

"AAAAAAH!" Mario shouted.

"M-M-Master Mario!" Toadsworth exclaimed. "The Princess! Where is Princess Peach?" Apparently he was in denial that she had not come home, he was pale and shaking. "What is that odd hole? I demand answers, sir!"

He never got answers.

Mario did the only thing he could do, or knew how to do, at that moment.

He jumped in after him.

Next time on Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time:

Stranded...in the past. The two brothers are stuck, and who knows where? Will they arrive at the exact time period that the princess traveled to? Or, are they too far back? Either way, they're in a strange place...in Chapter 2: Stranded In the Past!

**Author's Note: I spent a lot of time on this first chapter so that something could be posted. Please review, and you have no excuse not to, because I enabled Anonymous reviews. So, the beginning of the story is told. This was a long chapter, and I have nineteen chapters to go. Don't worry, I won't abandon this project, I'm just worried in case readers lose interest.**


	2. Stranded in the Past

Story #1 by: Drago 321

MARIO AND LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME

Author's Note: I would like to once again remind you that these chapters are from the walkthrough divisions on . Also, this story consists of four Parts, each Part containing five Chapters. This is a novelization of the video game, and thus is not mine. The story interpretation of the game is.

_**PART 1: INVASION**_

_**CHAPTER 2: STRANDED IN THE PAST**_

Last time on Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time:

Mario and his twin brother Luigi both had extremely odd dreams. Mario saw lonely alien beings searching for something, and Luigi saw the same creatures attacking their homeworld years ago. In the waking world, Princess Peach and two Toad accomplices will accompany her into the past. Toadsworth, her caretaker, faints from the excitement, and Mario has to find a cure. As Toadsworth awakes, the time machine returns, beaten and battle-scarred. Only a single alien is inside. Mario and Luigi beat it down, but is this a coincidence? An alien returning from the past? It seems a 'time hole' has now appeared in the front yard, and after some discussion, the brothers decide to take the plunge and see if they can find the Princess...

Now, read on...

**Boom!** Yet another blast shook the castle.

"BOWSER!" Toadsworth shouted. "You have brought this upon us!"

They were still in the throne room of the castle.

"What are you talking about? I never told those morons that Kamek hired to fire! They would never attack if I was in the firing zone, anyways, you stupid old guy! What a geezer!"

"Hey! I am not a geezer! Yet!"

"Come on, you two!" a Toad shouted. (They were awakened by the battle between Mario and Bowser.) "We've got to stick together here! Apparently, Bowser did not do this...I trust him! This is obviously a bigger threat than him" (here Bowser pouted) "and there is one thing that we need to do right now...RUN LIKE HECK!" Indeed, he was right. The strange things were descending on the castle, and they needed to run...like heck. A Toad scooped up the Mario Brothers, and Toadsworth grabbed Peach. All of them ran through the now rubble-strewn throne room and out the double-doors. Now they could see who their new adversary was. There was a brilliant blue sky. It was a nice, sunny day, but not for long. As they ran outside, the previously sunny day turned rainy.

**Boom! **Another blast hit the ground. It just barely missed Bowser, who looked back to see the blast. He saw what looked like a big pink cloud. It was a condensed plasma blast that would burn anything it touched to a crisp. The ground next to Bowser was blackened and charred, as was most of the castle.

Bowser looked up to confirm his worst nightmare...the attackers were aliens! They were like Toads, except they were purple and looked more menacing than Toads do. They were snugly fitted into flying saucers, and there was an oval window that acted as a targeting reticle for the huge gun on the white saucer. It resembled a machine gun, and was black. The creatures were still firing away...

"Look!" Bowser shouted. "ALIENS!"

"Oh...my..."

"AAAAAHHHHH! RUN LIKE HECK!" the Toad said as all three babies (or four if you consider Bowser a baby...) began crying. They ran out of the garden and hid behind a castle wall to take a breather.

"We need to get out of here!" Toadsworth yelled. "Those aliens are faster than we are by far in those ships! Eventually we'll be toast!"

"Wait..." Bowser had a plan. "I do have my ship...the Koopa Cruiser. It's a big blimp-like thing that Kammy bought me for my last birthday! Comes complete with weapons and everything!"

"Well...can you get it here?" A Toad asked impatiently.

"Of course I can, you nimrod! I just gotta find the transmitter..."

"What is that going to do for us?" asked Toadsworth.

"It calls the crew of the Cruiser, stupid...AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGH! Where is it?! WHICH one of you DIPSTICKS TOOK it?" There was a general mumbling of 'I don't have it!' 'What's it look like?', and 'We're doomed!'

"Ohhhhh...ohhhhh noooooo!" Bowser whimpered.

"Dear boy, stop mumbling! What is it? Have you found it?" Toadsworth inquired.

"No...I left it in the castle...I dropped it to battle Mario with both hands..."

Now, the general thing being said was, 'You WHAT?!' 'In the CASTLE?!', and 'Go get it then, lizard-face!'

Among all the commotion, no one noticed little Baby Luigi sneak across the wall, headed for the garden. He got into the castle without anyone noticing, then he looked around the throne, where Mario and Bowser battled. Almost immediately, he found it and then returned to the group, without anyone, friend or foe, noticing. He had in his hand a little plastic box with an antennae. It was bright red.

"I've a-got it!" he said in his little baby voice.

'Yay!', 'Hooray for Luigi!', 'He got it?!'.

"Ha! Gimme that!" Bowser yelled. He pressed a large green button on the box, and immediately and huge blimp-like ship appeared. It was a huge green thing, with Bowser's ugly face painted on it. The group ran out into the open and heard the aliens' strangled cries as they were getting away.

The ship dipped down a bit into a clearing a ways away and an intercom voice from the Cruiser said, "Bowser, come on, quick! It looks like you're in a spot of trouble!" The aliens began firing on the ship! It was blimp-like, but made of metal. The Toads, the babies, Toadsworth, and Bowser all ran for the blimp-ship. They ran through the woods next to the castle, as it gave them good cover from the aliens. They saw various forest creatures scattering from their location. Finally, they got back to the blimp. Already it was battle-worn and scarred from the aliens. Bowser ran to the blimp and jumped on it, then tried to close the door.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?" a Toad said.

"Hmmmm...let me think about that...NO! Ha, ha, ha! Fools! I'm leaving without you!" Bowser replied.

The intercom spoke again. "Bowser...just let them on. If you don't hurry anyways, we're going to be burnt metal. Now come on!"

"Drat! All of my budding evil plans get shot down by current higher authority!"

Everyone stared.

"Well get on, you nitwits!"

They all got on the blimp-thing, and Bowser closed the door. They were off, dodging the blasts of the aliens. As they looked back, they saw the creatures making the final descent on the now deserted castle. This was not a dream.

Toad Town was a woodsy, muddy place, with dirt paths and spread out houses in the traditional Toad fashion.

Here a father was watching the morning news with his son. The son was perched on the father's lap, eager for the news to be finished so that they could go outdoors. The news was just about to be wrapped up when, suddenly, the TV went blank.

"Urgh..." the father Toad said.

The little Toad lad knew it would be a while before they would go outside, because his father would want to fix the TV first. His father went behind the TV and checked the various wires and cables...but they were all fine. So he went outside to check the power line and found that it was on the ground. But how?

It began to rain.

Out of the air came a white saucer, and, before the Toad could react, it shot what looked like a pink cloud at him. That was the last thing he saw.

The little Toad now came out of the house.

"Daddy?" he called. Now, the saucer shot at him, too! But, miraculously, it missed him, and the child ran screaming inside after he saw the charred ground just in front of him. "Mommy! MOMMY!" he cried. "There are scary things outside!"

He went into the kitchen, where his mother was making lunch, and pulled at her arm. "Mommy, come outside! Scary things ATE Daddy!"

The mother stepped outside with the son as she tried to reassure him that there was nothing to worry about. Then she saw the saucer and the charred ground.

"Where's your father?!" she shouted. "WHERE'S YOUR FATHER?!" she half-cried.

"Mommy, run!" the Toad, Jimmy, shouted. But, the mother Toad just stood there with a blank stare in her eyes. Then the strange saucer shot her down, too. "Mommy! Where'd you go?! MOMMY!"

The spaceship began blasting away again, and out of the distance, more saucers appeared. Jimmy ran for his life, but he slipped on the wet dirt path near their house...

All over Toad Town, the same was happening. Complete devastation. Everywhere. And, like they took the castle, the aliens made a final descent on the now empty town. Except, the castle was empty because everyone left, but Toad Town was empty because everyone was dead. After the beasts were done, there was nothing left. Not even the ashes of the victims.

Mario was riding along, inside a giant slide of sorts. It was a giant spiral tube of red and gold. He watched in awe as he sped around this strange flume. Next, he was launched through an opening into the sky. He fell onto something squishy that made a noise. It squealed...it was Luigi, lying face-first on the ground in front of him!

He quickly got up, but before he could help his brother up, something else came up out of the time hole! It was a suitcase, and it landed on Luigi, also. Luigi groaned as the second thing hit him that day.

Mario was surprised to see the suitcase stand up and talk.

"Watch the leather, Professor! No need for shoving!" Mario gasped in awe of this amazing talking suitcase. "Oh, you must be Mario!" it said as it turned to him.

The suitcase began searching for something, and then said, "According to the Professor, there should be a Luigi here as well, but I don't...AAAAA!" Luigi finally got his bearings and jumped up, making the suitcase fly to the side. Luigi was fuming with anger. "Oh, my!" the suitcase said. "Are you Luigi? I...sorry about that."

"Come on, bro!" Mario said. "It wasn't his fault! Lighten up!"

The other brother calmed down, but still gave the thing a deathstare.

"I am pleased to meet you. I am known as Stuffwell." the strange suitcase said. "Professor E. Gadd invented me. I am what is called a suitcase." Stuffwell said.

"Oh, really?" Luigi muttered sarcastically.

"Yes, actually...I am!" Stuffwell replied, not noticing the sarcasm. "The Professor sent me back in time to be...your assistant!"

"Assistant for what?" Mario whispered to Luigi.

"Yes, 'assistant' IS accurate...I'm more than just someplace to store your belongings." Stuffwell said, not noticing the blank stares of the brothers. "I have MANY complex sensors...and various memory apparati for data retention...and...er...you do not understand my functions?" he said to Luigi, who had fallen asleep. "Well, suffice to say, I am very technologic by contraption standards."

"WHAT?!" Mario shouted. "Mushish, please!"

"I'LL BE A BIG HELP...nimrods"

"What exactly will we need you for?" Luigi asked. (He was awake.)

"Well, I am LOADED with many features, and I can carry all of your items-"

"Open up." Mario commanded. He dropped the two Mushrooms and coins that he collected that day inside.

"As I was saying..." Stuffwell said irritatedly. "I can carry all of your equipment, as well...and...I can display your health statistics and experience in the field."

"Why would we need that?" Luigi asked.

"Er...the Professor said that to find the Princess...you might have to face a few baddies..."

"How do we even know if we're in the right time? This might be just a complete waste of it." Mario responded.

"That...you'll have to figure out." Stuffwell said. "Now... BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

"Wow...that was strange." Mario and Luigi said in unison.

"Let's just go back." Luigi said.

"We can find a more accurate way to save the Princess." Mario added as they turned to look at the time hole.

Suddenly, the earth trembled, and the little mound of earth with the time hole disappeared. Slowly...slowly...the time hole itself shrunk to nothing.

"OH NO!!" Luigi shouted frantically. He desperately began digging at the spot where the time hole was.

"Oh, geez...this is not good." Mario said. "Now we can't even get back!"

"And, on top of all that, we've got to carry a stupid suitcase around!" Luigi cried. He burst out in tears.

"I heard that!" came the muffled voice of Stuffwell.

"Come on, bro! We just gotta make the best of things, like we always do! It's not AS bad as it looks...we're just...stranded in the past with no way to get home and an annoying talking suitcase as our assistant...talk about a run-on sentence! But...just think about it! We are in another time! Let's do some exploring!" Luigi went on crying.

Now that the excitement of being thrown into a new time had died down, Mario could finally get his bearings and see where he was.

They were on a plateau of some kind...for it was quite windy and breathing was a bit more difficult than it normally was. He looked over the edge, but couldn't even see the ground. They must be on top of the clouds! There was a huge Mushroom plant rising up out of the clouds, and various bridges that criss-crossed over it led to another, higher plateau. This other plateau was snowy and looked inhabited, for there were lights twinkling in the distance.

Mario realized that they were in at least a civilized time. There was a fence along part of this plateau's edge. This plateau, unlike the other one, was a grassy area, with trees, bushes, and colorful flowers. Some of the bushes had red berries. To their left was a large stone wall, and the edge of the plateau. To their right was a narrow bridge that led to a large grassy clearing. A dirt path marked the way to the Mushroom plant, and civilization.

"Come on, bro!" Mario said. "Let's try to see if there are friendly people in that snowy place up there!" Luigi reluctantly followed him.

They came to the narrow bridge and Mario helped Luigi cross it. (The latter was afraid of heights.)

Next, they came to some ledges, somehow perfectly carved into the countryside.

"Mario!"

Mario looked around to see who had called him, but found no one.

"MARIO!"

He hadn't looked down. He took out Stuffwell again.

"Now, these ledges can be quite tricky...you do know how to jump, yes?" Stuffwell began.

"Of course we know how to jump, stupid suitcase!" Luigi said, having gotten over the time hole disappearing and the narrow path.

"Ah...but do you know how to jump in TANDEM?"

"Yes, Stuffwell...we've had adventures together before, you know!" Mario replied.

"Okay, then...if you say so..."

Mario and Luigi then expertly jumped up three ledges. They were now considerably higher up than they were before. They were about to continue when Mario saw two Mushrooms lying on another ledge to the side. He scooped them into Stuffwell and continued.

They jumped up onto yet another ledge and Luigi saw out of the corner of his eye four coins on the ground as well as a One-Up Mushroom. One-Up Mushrooms were much more tasty than regular Mushrooms, and they were said to bring back the dead. So, of course, they grabbed these, too.

Now, the brothers came to a set of ledges leading down to the original height they were at, but also, a ledge that stayed at the same height. This higher ledge had three gaps in it.

"Let's go down the stairs." Luigi said.

But Mario looked ahead and saw that if they went down the stairs, they would come to a dead end. He told this to Luigi, and they realized that they would have to go along the top...with high risk of falling off the plateau! Luigi looked nauseous.

Stuffwell spoke up again, "Ah...now you have to jump across these gaps at the SAME TIME!"

"Stuffwell...we know!" Mario said.

"Okay, okay...you guys are mean..."

Mario and Luigi deftly jumped across the gaps, a feat not many other people could do...well, they WERE the Mario Brothers!

Then, they came to another stranger place. It had five floating blocks, each either red or green. The red ones had an M on them, and the green ones had an L on them. There were three L blocks and two M blocks. It also looked like a dead end, because there were stone walls on the right and upper sides. Even stranger, there was a sign ahead that said 'Hollijolli Village' with an arrow pointing up.

"Ah, this is something that you may not know!" Stuffwell said again. "Only Mario can receive items from the red blocks, and Luigi can receive items from the green ones. Now...BACK TO ADVENTURE!" With that, he went back into Mario's arm.

"Wow...he is so annoying!" Mario said to his brother.

"Yeah...it's like he thinks we don't know anything..." Luigi replied. "Well, let's hit those blocks!"

"Why would they even make these?" Mario said. "I mean, blocks that only WE can hit? Kinda weird."

Each block held one coin. Once Mario hit the last block, part of the stone wall ahead of them slid down, revealing a staircase.

"Yes!" the brothers said.

"Now we can continue to this place...Hollijolli Village." Mario said.

They went up the staircase and into another clearing area. Just to their left was a bridge leading onto one of the stalks of the huge Mushroom. This plateau was over.

Suddenly, they saw something white shoot across the shy, headed for the village.

It began to rain.

Hollijolli Village. A snowy, Christmas paradise. All of the houses and roads had a nice blanket of snow on them, and everything was lined with twinkling lights and pine trees. Every house had a streetlight next to it. The roads were adorned in multi-colored stars.

The houses looked like snowy Mushrooms, and inside they always had a pile of presents or two, as well as ornate red rugs. Their floors were also patterned with stars and every family had at least a few trees inside.

Way up in the village, a child was bundling up to go outside with his siblings. He stepped outside, all ready to begin a violent snowball fight... and it began to rain.

"Awww!" the child said. He and all of the children had wanted to spend a nice day in the snow. Suddenly, white saucers appeared in the sky out of nowhere and began blasting pink shots everywhere.

"Ahhhhhhh!" all of the children shouted.

The roads were being blasted away by the invaders as they tried to hit their targets. They did succeed in their goal for most of them.

The adults, hearing the commotion, came outside to look. They saw the incoming invaders, and rushed their children inside.

It was the worst thing they could have done.

Now, the aliens were firing upon the houses! Rubble flew everywhere as Toads left and right got blasted off their feet. Some of the saucers landed and little Mushrooms came out with portable versions of their ships' guns (blue, with yellow blaster rings around the barrel) and began blasting civilians left in the street. One Toad got blown off of the plateau onto the grassy area below. The ground forces then infiltrated the mayor's home, and locked him inside his own dwelling with a small explosive device.

It was chaos.

Out of nowhere, a Toad flew down right on Mario's head.

"OWWW!" Mario shouted.

"The...village..." the Toad whispered. "Dank purple...mushrooms..."

Mario and Luigi stopped short. These were the creatures in their dreams, and similar to the creature from the time machine. Was this a clue that they were in the right time?

But, he didn't get to say any more, for some saucers spotted the brothers and quickly flew down. The brothers ran away, up onto the Mushroom. Luigi looked back to see the saucers blast the Toad into dust...and then collect the remains...

The brothers ran up a creaky wooden bridge to one of the stalks of the Mushroom. It was a huge red thing, with yellow spots scattered all over it. They ran up another bridge to the next stalk, and saw a purple Mushroom thing, except it was moving! These 'ground forces' of sorts didn't look as big nor as fierce as the pilots, but they were still a threat. They had razor-sharp teeth and were also purple with white spots.

Stuffwell once again popped into their lives. "There is no choice, my fair masters. We must battle these creatures!"

"Stuffwell!" Mario shouted. "These creatures are what took Princess Peach! We are in the right time! We made it!"

"Yes, yes, that's all dandy...I knew we were in the right time from the moment I came through! But now-"

"WHAT?!" Luigi exclaimed. "What do you mean? Why didn't you tell us?!"

"You never asked." was his brief reply.

Luigi was once again fuming at the little storage item.

While they were talking, another little Mushroom creature joined the first.

"Ah! Our first battle together!" Stuffwell exclaimed. "Mario...jump on him to begin the battle!"

He did, and heard both little aliens squeal in pain.

"GOOD JOB!" Stuffwell said excitedly. He then went off to the side to watch the battle unfold.

Mario got another shot in at the alien as Stuffwell muttered "Hopefully this Luigi is as good a fighter as his brother!"

Luigi was angry, and determined. So he got a jump attack in at the second creature.

"AH!" Stuffwell said. "These are Shrooblets! A growing creature of the Shroob race! They are a distant people, living in a far part of the galaxy."

The brothers looked at each other. So these were the perpetrators.

Stuffwell continued, "Observe the stance of the enemy. When it lifts its left foot...IT'S AIMING FOR LUIGI!" At this point, the beast came forward and lifted its left foot. Then it spun toward Luigi, who deftly jumped over it. "Every beast has its own attack pattern. Do your best to observe closely the movements and tendencies of your enemies! Now...BACK TO ADVENTURE!" And he was silent.

Now, one came to Mario, and Mario jumped on its head, killing it. Then, Mario jumped on the last one and killed it, also! The battle was won.

Meanwhile, more troops had come to them.

The brothers battled another group of two, and the only injury to the brothers was when Luigi anticipated the Shrooblet was attacking him, and jumped. But it was attacking Mario, so Mario was hurt by the creature. It's fangs ripped open his shirt sleeve as he spun, giving Mario a very large cut. Blood spilled over the Mushroom. It wasn't deep, it was just a long cut.

There came one last group of two, which the brothers defeated with ease.

They continued up another bridge to the next stalk, which had yet another team of Shrooblets. These Shrooblets dropped a Mushroom when they were killed, so of course, Mario scooped it up.

The brothers crossed over three more stalks without incident until they heard a hostile alien language being spoken from above. Suddenly, a Shrooblet landed on Luigi's head!

Stuffwell, of course, had his say on the matter, "Are you operational, Luigi?" he asked as Mario rolled his eyes. "Do you need service? It appears you've taken damage!"

"No kidding!" Mario muttered.

"What fortulent timing!" Stuffwell continued.

Luigi looked angry again.

"Allow me to explain how to use items!"

"WE KNOW!" the brothers said in unison. (Although Luigi sounded more like "Guruaugh!")

Mario pried Mushroom essence out of the stalk for enough to make two Mushrooms. He gave Luigi one of them, and he instantly recovered, the bump on his head fading.

"That should put pepper on his pizza!" Stuffwell said. Luigi almost pushed Stuffwell off the Mushroom, but Mario stopped him.

Mario also fed one to himself. The cut he just got, as well as the dried cut he got from the green thing back at the castle, instantly healed.

"Well then...BACK TO ADVENTURE!" I'll give you three guesses as to who said that.

The brothers made a relatively long climb to the next stalk, and met a squad of Shrooblets. They dealt with them easily, and then battled yet another team of two beasts on the stalk. From the second battle, they gained a Mushroom.

They climbed up the last bridge, and were now at the tip of the Mushroom. Waiting for them were three teams of Shrooblets. They were now quite experienced in beating these creatures, so they passed through them with ease like the heroes they were. They got another Mushroom from the third team.

They passed over a bridge into the snowy Hollijolli Village. As they entered, the invasion was just ending. A saucer shot at a runaway Toad, missed, and then killed him with the next shot. Another saucer did the same with another Toad. They both collected the remains and left.

"I guess we got all of their ground troops." Mario said.

Mario and Luigi looked around at the wreckage; the blasted streets and the crumpled houses. It was devastating. Lights on the trees and on the streetlights were flickering on and off.

They picked through the wreckage, looking for any survivors.

All they found was a wrecked village, a clearing to the north that might have been a picnic spot, and another place to the south that had a set of stairs in the middle, then a big, blasted gap, then a large ledge that was too high up to get on. They assumed there would have been a way to get on, before the invasion. There were four houses standing. Among the wreckage were two crumbled houses very close to each other. The first house was right at the entrance to the town. There was another house near the empty park, and yet another near the other park. In one of the houses, they found three Mushrooms and a coin. In another, they found twenty coins, and in the third, they found sixty coins. The only house they hadn't explored yet was one with a crooked sign on the outside saying 'Hollijolli Mayor's Home'. This house was near the back of the village. It was smoking at the seams, and looked like it would fall down at any time. They also noticed that this house was much bigger than the rest of them.

The brothers carefully stepped inside.

"Mrrrrrrf...Mmmph..."

The brothers jumped when they heard a noise from the back of the house. They walked up to the chimney and saw a pair of legs about halfway up it.

The pair of legs said, "Is...anybody there? Hello?"

The brothers looked at each other.

The legs continued, "What happened to those awful Shroob things? Are they gone?"

"Who are you?" Mario asked.

"Me?" the legs replied. "I'm the mayor of this village. Nice to not see you! Those Shroob things locked me inside my own house with an explosive...and then it almost blew me through the roof! Good thing I didn't leave my fire on, or I would be dead now. The question is...how do I get out?"

The brothers walked right underneath him, then Mario jumped. The mayor flew through the chimney and landed outside in the road. Mario and Luigi quickly went outside to see him.

"Ho ho! Safe at last!" he said. He was an old Toad, with a bushy white mustache and beard, and a nice red suit.

The mayor just stared at the destruction with sad and tired eyes. He sighed.

"Am I the last?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Luigi replied.

"Am I the only survivor?"

"Yes." Mario said. "We already went through the wreckage...and..."

"Well...there is one thing I can do. I have to go warn the other places of the world. I can travel and tell the people of the coming danger...by the way...what is your purpose here? You look like adventurers!"

The brothers looked at each other, then, choosing his words carefully, Luigi said, "We are here to battle these creatures just like you. But, we are fighting to save the future from chaos."

"Hmmm...then we have something in common!" he said. "I do realize that you do not wish to withhold such information of your mission to me...but I trust that there is good reason for it."

" There is. It's getting late." Mario said. "How about we camp in your house for the night, then you can leave in the morning!"

"Sounds alright to me!" the mayor Toad replied.

They went inside and prepared some comfortable space.

As they settled down to sleep, Mario went to Luigi for a private talk.

"Luigi...I don't think we're getting out of here."

"I've already thought of that, brother. But...like you said, we need to keep trying...so let's just search the city once more in the morning."

"Alright...good night."

"Good night."

"Good night!" the mayor said.

It was silent. The Shroobs were waiting for the perfect time. Little did the brothers know, they hadn't all left. They had a job: disable all threats.

There were no birds in the morning. They were all somewhere else. Anywhere else. The brothers awoke to find the mayor gone. Luigi went outside while Mario looked for signs of where he might have went. Luigi found a note written in the snow. It said, 'gone to Toad Town for help...the mayor.'

"Bro, come here!" Luigi yelled.

Mario came running, and Luigi continued, "Look! A note from the mayor! He went to Toad Town!"

"What...do you think we should follow him?"

"Yeah! It's the best chance we've got of finding some sort of help!"

But, they never even got to set off on their journey. For out of the shadows stepped three Shroobs, fully grown, and three saucers. At this point, also, Mario saw a charred, blackened part of the street that wasn't there last night. He gulped. The mayor was not on his way to Toad Town.

"What should we do with them?"

"Maybe we could absorb them?"

"Let's kill them!"

"Yes, let's!"

"Hurrah!"

Suddenly, out of the air, the three saucers produced a large, black spiky thing with the number three on it.

"What's that?" Luigi asked.

"No idea, but right now... I don't really care!"

And the brothers began to battle the three Shroobs.

Mario jumped on one of them. Right when he did, the number on the thing changed to two. Then, the Shroobs pulled out guns and began shooting up the place.

While dodging the guns, the brothers got a few more jumps in, while the number changed to one.

Mario jumped on the first Shroob, and killed it.

The number changed to zero.

The remaining Shroobs fled, and the saucers quickly dropped the thing and sped away with lightning speed.

The brothers looked up, and wished they hadn't.

"I don't think this is good-" Luigi began.

_**BOOM!**_

And everything went black.

The Shroobs were happy. Their job was complete.

Next time on: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time:

Is it all over? Did the aliens win before it even began? Find out in: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time Chapter Three: "Assume Defensive Positions!"

**Author's Note:**

**This chapter...sadly...wasn't as long as the first. I had to cram a lot of stuff into this chapter, so don't blame me if it's not as descriptive. These next few chapters are very different from the game, so be warned. A lot of the stuff I wanted in this chapter is in the next chapter, so forgive me if it seems a little weird in the next chapter...I just needed to make Chapter 3 longer, cause it's already going to be shorter. Well, I didn't spend a lot of time on this one because I didn't have the game until recently, so I wanted to put up a chapter quickly. Only eighteen more to go!**

**Please review!**


	3. Wins and Losses

Story #1 by: Drago321

MARIO AND LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME

Author's Note: Once again, I'd like to remind you that these chapter divisions are from the walkthrough on , and this game belongs to Nintendo and Alpha Dream. Enjoy!

_Part 1: Invasion_

_Chapter 3: Wins and Losses_

Mario and Luigi traveled to the past, and a place called Hollijolli Village. There, they met Stuffwell, the talking suitcase that held only their belongings...and a wealth of knowledge! He led them through the wilderness up to the village itself. The Shroobs, as the aliens were now known as, had been attacking various places around the Mushroom Kingdom. Now they were coming here. The Shroobs were taking the remains of the Toads that they killed off. Mario and Luigi rushed to stop an invasion, but were too late. Only the mayor survived, holed up in his own home. They rescued him, and the mayor made plans to set out for Toad Town. Little did he know, it was already destroyed. The next morning, the brothers found the remains of the mayor outside the door and were almost instantly attacked by Shroobs in saucers. They unleashed a gigantic bomb and fled. When we last left the brothers, they were lying in the falling snow. Meanwhile, Bowser, the babies, Toadsworth and some Koopas were escaping from the crumbling castle, heading toward...somewhere.

Now…read on...

Mario and Luigi lay quietly and peacefully in the snow. Flakes began to fall all around them, and the roads were soon dusted with a thin blanket of white frost. The brothers did not stir in the large crater where they lay. The mayor's house and a few of the other homes were gone. They were bleeding and scratched, and Mario's arm stuck out at an odd angle. They were battered. Broken. Dead.

Saucers were gathering to the north. One last straggler from Toad Town zoomed forward. It sped over the now crumbling village. There were strange purple Mushrooms now growing all over each and every house in the town, as well as on the ground and in the trees.

It quickly passed Toad Town and headed over the new Shroob Castle. It was the lair of their ruler. This new castle also had purple Mushrooms infesting it. Aside from looking kind of creepy, the new Mushrooms looked poisonous.

Perched on the top of Shroob Castle was a giant stone statue that almost doubled the castle's size. It was a huge bust of a feminine-looking Shroob wearing a crown.

This was a statue of the leader of the Shroob colony in the Mushroom Kingdom. She was Princess Shroob, the strict empress-to-be of the Shroob race. There were always two saucers guarding the castle. There was a pinkish wall surrounding the castle, with a big purple gate in front.

The little ship dodged the huge statue and the saucers, and continued north.

Up ahead, where ships were amassing, was a giant mountain with a clear blue star-shaped platform on top. The mount was made of sparkling blue rock, and was littered with crystals shaped as stars. A winding path led to the star platform. The ground on the mount was patterned with white stars. Roughly a mile to the east of the platform was another one with a pipe on it. In the Mushroom Kingdom, pipes were the easiest method of travel.

High above the platform was a large temple, floating in the air.

A relatively larger saucer was floating amongst the others, forcing them into strict military formation. It did not notice the last ship as it hurriedly came into formation.

Suddenly, an intercom allowed a booming voice to be heard. The voice was coming from the bigger ship.

"This will be our new base of operations, men. We are planning to overrun the shrine placed in the sky. Local legend claims it to hold the 'power of the gods'. Devotists use this place to worship the star gods of this planet. We are planning a mass attack on the temple to procure this untold power of the divine. I have orders from the Princess herself that these weapons would be very useful in conquering this world easily, as well as other worlds, and that this mission is inevitable. As Commander of this entire military force, my war tactic experience has deduced a plan to beat these 'gods'. First, saucers will fly up to the temple and begin firing at anything that would hamper the enemy. Next, ground forces already positioned at the star platform will transport up to the temple. We are assuming that the pipe to the east goes up to the shrine, as otherwise this planet's worshipers have no way to reach the place. These uncivilized people do not have the air technology to fly up to the height of the shrine. The ground forces must be as stealthy as possible up there, so as to try to find these sacred items for our use without anyone or anything noticing. The last thing we need are monks with the ability to call the divine. Are we ready men?"

There was a general cry of 'Huzzah!'

Each engine of the saucers kicked to life with a loud hum, and each of them sped off to the temple.

The saucers flew up to the shrine and began blasting away at the foundations. They did not, however, fire too much. After all, this was just a decoy plan to let the ground forces get in unnoticed, and they didn't want to destroy the temple. The bigger saucer with the Commander in it stayed behind to watch. There was a faint 'boom, boom' from up above as the saucers began their descent, and the ground forces were currently stepping gently onto the wide path of sky leading onto the pipe platform. When the first soldier put his foot down, a rainbow colored slab of glass a mile long filled the air. There was an air of wonderment among the foot soldiers, and then they quickly ran across. Soon they were at the pipe, and the soldiers, one-by-one, were sucked into the blue pipe as they jumped into it.

Quite suddenly, there was a booming voice that came from the temple, and there was no doubt that all of the Shroobs in Star Hill and Star Shrine heard it clearly.

"Blasphemous creatures!" it said. "You shall all perish for attacking this sacred place!"

Suddenly, as if it was raining fire, meteors crashed down on the ships. They all hit their mark with amazing accuracy, and the saucers fell to the ground, spinning out of control. It was almost like some unseen hand was guiding the colossal rocks. The Commander watched in horror as his troops fell to the ground before him. He ordered his pilot to fly a safe distance from the wreckage.

He saw the ground forces emerge from the pipe so far away. They ran across the bridge, panic-stricken, and quickly dashed down the mountain. A few of them got tripped up and were crushed by the incoming space rocks. Most of the troops eventually made it down the tall mountain.

Their adrenaline spurred them to keep running until they hit the bottom of the hill. They took cover at the foothills of the mountain, and the meteor shower ended.

"May you never return!" the voice from above said.

The Commander had his troops retreat to a safe distance away from Star Hill, and they began the long process of breeding more ground forces.

The Cruiser was escaping, heading for the large fort that was Bowser's Castle. But, little did the tired crew know, three saucers followed them from behind.

They flew through the blue, sunny sky. This high, there were many clouds and it was getting difficult to see.

From behind them, the saucers sped up. Finally, they caught up to the massive ship. All three ships began to open fire on the cruiser.

Deep inside the ship, Mario was running circles around Luigi, with the Baby Princess watching and laughing. The babies had never left the docking bay. There was a red metal floor, and green walls. There were gray pipes running along the walls and cooling fans in the floor.

Suddenly there was a big rumble throughout the ship, and Mario immediately stopped and looked around. Luigi and Peach began to cry. Then, there was another rumble. And another. And another.

The lights began blinking red and a speaker system announced, "EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!"

Toadsworth walked in, and stumbled when the ship rumbled again.

"PRIIIIIIIIIINCESS!" he shouted.

He was knocked to his feet by the next blast. Despite that, he quickly jumped up and ran over to Peach.

"Oh! Oh, Princess!" he said. "Never fear, my dear! Toadsworth is here!"

He began to wheel out her stroller as he said, "Let's get you to safety!" the brothers did not even notice them leaving...or coming.

The speaker came on again.

"This is the great Prince Bowser! Kneel, minions...OK...now get up! All personnel to the bridge!"

"Goo goo!" Baby Mario had stopped whining.

He promptly dragged the crying Luigi out of the bay. They were going to the bridge. Luigi stopped crying when he saw that they had stopped. For now, the blasts had subsided and the ship had stopped.

They went into the next room, and found themselves on a walkway with purple rails. There were yellow and green walls, and huge yellow pipes in the depths of the ship. They went along down the walk, and saw a Koopa ahead of them. Like Bowser, these foot-soldiers of his army were yellow turtle-ish beings. They each wore a green shell. He was wearing a brown pilot's uniform.

"Hey, you there!" he said. "His Grouchiness awaits you! Get your tails to the bridge! I wonder if you little spuds can make it on your own...can you little tater-tots jump?"

The babies showed him their jump. They had been practicing.

"Okay!" the Koopa said. "To clear these staggered levels, you two are gonna have to work on your jumping!"

The brothers soon knew what he meant by staggered. Along the walkway were crates piled up high.

Mario and Luigi jumped over the first row of boxes, and found a Mushroom on the ground. Mario scooped it up, and continued on. The babies jumped up onto more crates and found that now they were stacked two-high. Little Luigi, the scavenger, found a coin on a crate. They jumped back down to the ground and found another Koopa.

"Ah, hello little children!" it said. "You two little adventurers know how to jump, but can you jump together?"

The babies stared at the Koopa, wondering what 'together' meant.

Beside the Koopa were boxes stacked two high, with one box leading up to them, but the boxes were not placed straight. There were gaps that the brothers would have to cross. The babies figured out for themselves that they needed to jump across them at the same time. If they didn't, there was a wall of boxes ahead, and they wouldn't be able to pass. So they had to jump up high.

And they did.

They WERE the mini Mario brothers.

At the top of all the boxes, the babies came to yet another Koopa soldier, as well as several blocks, some red, some green.

He said, "This stays between us, okay? Only the red kid can hit the red block. That means that if the green kid smacks a red thingy, nothing happens. And if the red kid hits the green, there's diddly-squat there, too. So if you want green stuff to do stuff, don't waste time with red. Just green. Not too shabby, right? Right? Right? RIGHT? Now run along, youngsters!"

The babies once again followed instructions mindlessly. There were two red blocks and two green ones. Luigi quickly hit his blocks, and got a Mushroom Drop (pure Mushroom essence that has multiple servings of Mushroom) and a One-Up Mushroom. Mario got 10 coins and a Mushroom. They left the blocks behind, and jumped down from the crates. The walkway turned ahead, and the brothers followed it into a large door.

Now, the babies found themselves in yet another crate-filled hall. In this area, some of the boxes were bigger. Mario and Luigi found a solitary coin on one of the bigger crates.

They came to one box placed next to two stacked boxes. There was a large wall of two staked boxes that they needed to pass. They used the stacked boxes to jump over the wall after a few minutes of analyzing the situation.

They came down from the crates and found another pacing Koopa. It seemed he was mumbling to himself.

"Who knows what's going to happen from here on in?" he said. "And, I mean, you're BABIES. The enemy could easily crash us here and now."

He was obviously one worried turtle.

Beside the Koopa was a set of stairs that the babies presumed led onto the bridge.

The babies walked into the command center to see large potholes on the sides of the walls, where Toadsworth and Peach stood, looking back at the enemy. Bowser was at the main controls of the ship, with one of the pilots standing next to him. Two other pilots were at the flying controls, and currently attempting to communicate with the enemy.

Communications were just ending as the brothers stepped in.

"Uh, Bowser..." the pilot said. "The enemy is going to resume battle..."

"Okay, then!" Bowser said as the ship began rumbling again. "Time to show these alien jerks what the Koopa Cruiser can do! Fire the Koopa Cannon!" he said.

The Cruiser flew up to the same height as the saucers. Out of the engine flew a giant black spiked ball, headed for the nearest saucer. At the same time, a saucer fired a plasma blast at the ball. The reaction was huge. As the two forces met, a huge heat wave spread across the sky, easily destroying the saucers.

"Cool!" Bowser laughed. "I am just so dang EVIL! I hope they felt honored to be shot down by me!"

"Uh...Prince Bowser!" said the Koopa next to him.

"WHAT, SKY-NERD?!" he replied. "CAN'T YOU TELL I AM ENJOYING THE MOMENT?!"

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but...we're falling..."

"HOLY CRUD!!"

"Sir, it appears the heat wave sprung a leak in the hot air ventilation pipe, near the engine...in other words, the engine is gone, sir..." the pilot said.

"Well, can you save us, or are we all going to perish?!" Toadsworth asked.

"I can fly the ship, but it will take four times as long to reach any destination." the pilot replied. "The enemy will eventually send backup...and when they do...we'll be toast. I need to get a new engine, and we have to find one fast."

"I know of a place that specializes in ship mechanics!" Toadsworth exclaimed. "Hollijolli Village! It is a large plateau with an icy city on it! They have many engines..."

"Sir?" the pilot asked.

"Fine," Bowser replied. "plot a course for this Jollifolli place...estimated time of arrival?"

"One hour, sir!"

"That's quite a wait!"

"I know sir, but the slow time is needed, otherwise we'll crash with the speed..."

One hour later, the Cruiser reached Hollijolli Village, and found a horrible sight...the whole place was destroyed. There was a large crater where the middle of the city once was, and the rest of the town was gone.

"Oh my gosh..." Toadsworth said.

The pilot sighed.

"This might be a slight problem..." he said.

"No, really?" Bowser shouted. "Touch down, anyways, there may be an unharmed engine...somewhere..."

As the ship made its descent, the pilot saw two figures lying in the crater. From far away, he could still tell that they were human, and that one was wearing green, the other red.

"Bowser! Villagers!" he said.

"Your...your orders? Should we help them?" his assistant asked.

"Aw, man! It's half past snacktime already!" he replied. "We...We saw nothing! Everybody clear on that?"

The Princess began crying with the force of an earthquake.

"Great hoogly-boogly!" Toadsworth said. "The Princess does NOT approve of this!"

Bowser rolled his eyes.

"Young Master Bowser!" he continued. "Abandoning those folk is reprehensible!"

"No way, old man! Keep that baby quiet!"

This only made her cry louder.

"MY EARS! She'll ruin us all!" Bowser said. "Fine! I'll help them if she'll just SHUT UP!"

Bowser had his pilots touch down in the empty park area. He walked over to Peach and got in her face.

"There! Happy?" he said. "It's probably safe down there, so...babies!"

Mario and Luigi snapped to attention.

"Go get the victims...NOW! Toadsworth, go with 'em!"

Outside the ship, Toadsworth wanted a private word with the kids.

"Young masters, if you would, please go check on those unfortunate villagers. That, I believe, will make the Princess most pleased, and perhaps avoid future tantrums. I shall wait here for you return. Tally-ho!"

The babies exited the park and went over right in front of the mayor's house to find the two figures. Mario and Luigi went over to them, and noticed that they looked quite dead. They also saw a dead alien on the ground.

Suddenly, out of the shadows appeared two very alive aliens.

"Oh no, more of them? We'll kill them, too!"

Mario jumped on the alien's head as they heard a cry from behind them.

"Young Master Luigi!"

It was Toadsworth. He had come to help out.

An alien shot at him. He dodged it, but got tripped up doing so. When he fell, he sprained his leg and couldn't get up. Luigi jumped on the other alien, and the creatures began shooting up the place, as they had done before.

Toadsworth struggled to his feet and called again.

"Young masters!" he said. "Let's give you some help, eh?"

The brothers looked at each other.

"You must use the items I will give you together..."

The brothers, thankfully, now knew what together meant.

"Please, you two, take these Green Shells."

He pulled out five shells of Koopas and tossed them to the brothers.

Mario took out one of his new shells, and his battle-minded self realized a strategy. He winked at Luigi, who nodded, and Mario kicked the shell at the first alien.

The alien reared in pain as the rock hard shell hit him. It was still spinning...spinning toward Luigi! The brother kicked it back at the beast, who squealed in pain again.

Next, it went to Mario, who kicked it again...Luigi, Mario, Luigi, Mario...

Eventually, the Shroob couldn't take the bashing anymore, and fell over, dead.

"YES!" Toadsworth shouted.

Luigi took out his shell and used the same tactic to kill the other Shroob.

As the last alien fell, Toadsworth left the battle to check on the villagers.

"That was rather close, eh?" he said. "Now that I see these villagers close up, they bear a striking resemblance to the two of you!"

The babies had already noticed this. Mario went to Mario, and Luigi went to Luigi. They saw once again that both looked quite dead. They began thinking hard.

"We're going to have to hurry if we will do something..." Toadsworth said. "The aliens are likely to be back in force. We are going to have to take them back to Bowser's ship."

The brothers had been lying there for a while, as it was now nighttime. So, they babies and Toadsworth took the older brothers up into the ship, where everybody slept well that night.

As Toadsworth tucked into a corner with Peach in his arms, he mumbled to himself.

"Those monsters...Their arrival seems like a horrible dream...It was all so sudden...I now realize what they are!...I didn't go to Mushvard for no reason...Foul parasites from the Shroob planet, land of utter creepiness! Their purpose is oh-so clear! They wish to take all we hold dear in the Mushroom Kingdom! Our land...our very lives!

He imagined the monsters attacking Toad Town, the happy Toads being destroyed for no reason...the saucers soaring in the sky for decades to come...he was seeing the future...a terrible future...

"This village is in ruins...and our beloved castle as well! Toad Town is presumably dead already..."

He remembered his escape and the horrible ending to the castle...how the Toads left behind must have been gone by now. He had seen one, being blasted, and then the remains were collected.

Bowser had called for Kamek mindlessly, like a son calling a mother in times of trouble. Everyone was delirious before that one Toad had had the sense enough to get everyone to run...

Before he knew it, he was asleep.

The morning was bright and clear. Toadsworth decided that he would go to see the brothers, but right when he got up, he saw the babies and the brothers playing together!

The babies had healed the brothers! Beside them were the remains of two One-Up Mushrooms! The brothers explained that they had one with them, and the babies had found one on this ship.

As the babies couldn't talk, and the pilots were driving, and Bowser was sleeping, they didn't know what the heck was going on. So, Toadsworth took the liberty of explaining the whole story so far to the newcomers. At the mention of Bowser, the newcomers looked at each other with worried glances. Toadsworth also told how the Mushroom Kingdom was being terrorized by the Shroobs.

Bowser now awoke.

"Report!" he said.

His pilot said that they had decided that they would head to Peach's Castle, to see the results of the invasion.

"Okay...but first we have to find an engine. And we have to fix the burst pipe."

"We can fix it!" the brothers said.

"It'll be easy!" Mario said.

"Where is it?" Luigi asked.

"Ah... who are they?!" Bowser yelled.

"Wait...aren't you..." the brothers said.

"They're the people we found in the village." Toadsworth replied. He then explained to Bowser the current situation.

"But, we haven't heard from you...newcomers..." Toadsworth said.

And then, Mario took the long task of explaining themselves, and after he was finished, everybody was convinced that their story was true. They were from the future, and were here to rescue Peach.

"Is that Baby Peach?!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Why, yes!" Toadsworth said. "So you say that the Princess was taken by these Shroobs?"

"Yes...and now we are absolutely sure that we are in the right time because there is proof of Shroobs here!"

"Well...my enemies...in the future! Cool!" Bowser said. "But now, you have to go and fix the pipe, otherwise we'll never see what happened to the castle!"

It didn't take long. The brothers were plumbers before their discovery of the kingdom, and they had not forgotten their trade. The busted pipe was in the depths of the engine, and the real problem was getting there. The actual repair took about five minutes.

The brothers reported back to Bowser with the good news that the pipe was fixed. Now all they needed was a new engine, and there was no danger of losing another one.

But first came a difficult task...removing the old one.

The Commander of the Shroobs had the unfortunate job of telling the Princess of their failure. Right after the battle, he flew his saucer to the Castle, but not before he told his most trusted soldier to keep an eye on things. If there was another meteor shower, they would be done.

Within seconds he arrived at the castle, and touched down at the gate. The gate was designed so that only Shroobs could open it, and so the Commander passed through quickly and easily.

In the courtyard of the castle, he saw the various creations of the Princess, how she had taken creatures and mangled them to do her will and hers only. The Commander calmed her pets, and stalked past them rather hastily into the castle.

Soon enough, he was in the huge statue on top of the castle...it was the Princess' new quarters.

He saw her facing out at the mountain beyond her, her back to the Commander.

"You have lost?"

"Yes, my princess...I'm afraid the divine were too much for us..."

"Then go...I have already seen your defeat...recover the troops you have lost..."

She was disappointed that no divine toys had been recovered. They would have given them the tools to conquer the universe!

And he left, headed back for his war camp, and the long breeding process.

Eventually, they recovered from this battle, and they never attacked Star Shrine again. They did make Star Hill their military base on this new colony. There was only one problem with their new base of operations: there were constant star storms, as the troops called them, raining down from above. The Commander knew that they needed a better, safer base, and he went to the Princess again to consult her about it.

"I believe that if we stay here any longer, it will eventually put us back where we were before..."

"I completely agree with you, Commander...we have not been able to invade many places while the bulk of our troops have been down, and there are some signs of rebellion...another loss would be a great one...it might even lead to our removal of this planet...but...do you have a place in mind?"

"Indeed, fair ruler, I do."

"Then please tell me of it!"

"I have seen much of this land from atop the Hill. One of the things I have seen is a black castle, away in the distance. It is shaped like the creature who escaped on the large ship at the start of the invasion. I believe it belongs to him. I do not know if the Mushroom creatures and he are allies, or not. I am guessing that they are having war, but I cannot be certain, because he would have helped his enemy to escape. Either way, I propose that we lay siege to their castle, and take their troops for our own with the Brain-Molder. We saw the leader of their army escape from this castle..."

"Hmmm...can we afford siege at this moment? If they are enemies of the Mushroom people, then they may be tougher than the Mushroom people. We may have another loss."

"No...if this is war between them, then it has been going on for many a year. Neither side is better than the other. I am a Commander, I realize things most others don't. I do have one question for you, oh dear Princess."

"What is it that you wish to know, most loyal servant?"

"Why didn't we use the Mushroom people as warriors?"

"The ones that escaped were the warriors. The others do not know how to fight. And...we need the Mushroom people...as you well know...that is one of the reasons that we came here..."

"Yes...I understand. Will we lay siege?"

"We could use more troops...do it...as soon as possible..."

"Thank you, my ruler."

He headed back to his base of operations, prepared to lay siege to the castle. He quickly amassed all of the available troops that the army had, and prepared the battle plans.

By the next morning, he was ready. He had all of the Shroob standard weapons: ground-to-air missiles with amazing accuracy, plasma cannons, and a fleet of one-hundred saucers at his disposal. He also had his own personal unit of fifty hand-picked ground troops that would invade the castle when the battle was almost won.

His plan was simple. Make sure nobody got out. He had the saucers to attack the castle until an opening was made, and plasma cannons to help out with more powerful blasts.

In case things went bad, (which was unlikely, he thought) he had his trusty missiles to take out any aircraft trying to escape. The ground forces were to eliminate the last few troops once an opening was made.

He used a Shroob cargo ship to drop off himself, the ground troops, the missiles, and the cannons while the saucers flew beside it.

Soon enough, they landed in front of the castle. It was a large black castle, with a moat of lava in front of it. If there was a war between the peoples of this planet, he now knew which side had goals most like his own.

The area around the castle was barren and black. Civilization was far away. The Commander did not think that anyone had even saw him yet from the castle. That's how he liked it.

He signaled to the lead saucer to begin the attack.

And they did.

It was slow going, and back-breaking work. But, eventually, Bowser, his seven crew members, Mario, Luigi, and Toadsworth were able to remove the engine from the Cruiser. The Toads who had escaped from the castle had decided that they would stay and try to rebuild what was once Hollijolli Village. They had to open the back flap to the ship and unhitch the cables first. Then, Mario, Luigi, and Toadsworth got inside and pushed the engine out while the seven Koopas pulled.

Bowser supervised.

After the job was finally done, mostly everyone was for throwing the old engine off the plateau. But Toadsworth brought them back to sense.

"We can't do that! It might crush someone!"

Everyone was on a pretty thin temper. They HAD been working for a while, but the job wasn't done. No way! They had to find a new engine among the wreckage, bring it over there, and put it inside the Cruiser. It was going to be hard.

The attack was devastating on the castle. The warriors of Bowser's army did not have the technology to oppose the Shroobs. The Shroobs were succeeding. Things were getting bad.

None of the saucers had fallen yet. None of the plasma cannons had been destroyed. This whole planet was just too weak to face the Shroobs! The only thing that the Koopas and Goombas were happy about was that Bowser was not here. They would suffer a loss, but Bowser would live on. They would recover. Eventually, they would rule the Mushroom Kingdom.

The situation was getting worse and worse for their enemies. Soon they would run out of food. The Commander wondered what was taking the pilots so long to fire up and get some help from the outside. Little did he know, all of the best and only pilots were with Bowser, working to repair the Cruiser.

One happy, happy day, early in the morning, the Mario brothers found an engine in the trees right beside the Cruiser! There was an engine there after all! Mario and Luigi inspected it after calling the crew, Bowser, and Toadsworth to see it. It was alright! It must have been thrown from a shop in an explosion. It was a little dinged up, but it could fly as normal. The 'park' the Cruiser landed in probably was that shop.

They did have good luck about one thing: they didn't have to drag it very far, only about twenty feet. And so they did, and they finished dragging the engine to the ship at about midday.

They were so excited to actually get going, they worked extremely hard for the rest of the day. (Even Bowser helped a little!) Finally, near nighttime, they could slap each other on the back for a job well done! They had gotten the new engine into the ship and Mario and Luigi had hooked up all of the correct wires while Toadsworth and the crew took a much needed rest.

The Koopas and Bowser were so excited to go that they prepared to fly right then. There were headlights on the head of the ship, so steering at night wouldn't be a problem.

Everyone stayed awake except the babies.

Soon enough, they came to their destination. Peach's Castle.

"Our once beautiful castle...No...look at it now..." Toadsworth said.

They flew closer to get a better look. Since the meteor shower, three plasma cannons had been added to the face of the castle, and another statue of the Princess of Shroobs was at the bottom of the castle, too.

"No doubt those fiends call it Shroob Castle." Toadsworth said. "Princess Shroob is their leader, at least on this colony..."

Mario stepped up to Toadsworth.

"Let us off here." he said.

"What? I'm afraid I can't let you do that!"

"The future Princess Peach is in there! That's why we came here..."

"Are you mad?! Going in there without any backup?" Bowser yelled. "We're going to have to reroute to my castle. Come on!"

Suddenly, the emergency lights came back on.

"Status report! NOW!" Bowser said.

"Your Foulness!" the pilot said. "We're receiving some sort of transmission from Peach's...I mean, Shroob Castle!"

"Well, put it on the monitor, dimwit!" he replied. "What would they want to say?"

On the monitor, and image appeared. Bowser went over to communicate. The image was of a feminine-looking Shroob with a silver crown and a high-collered purple dress. She had green earrings, a black brooch around her neck, and glowing red eyes.

This was Princess Shroob.

"Foolish mortals! You dare to challenge...the Shroobs?"

"Who's this hag?" Bowser said.

"Th-that must be Princess Shroob! Undoubtedly!" Toadsworth replied shakily.

"Answer me! Face my wrath!"

"Man, does anyone have ANY idea what she's blabbing about?"

The monitor ceased communications, and the ship passed without incident.

It continued on until Bowser's Castle came in sight.

"Oh...my...gosh..." a Koopa said.

Bowser just stared with his mouth open at the horrible sight. His castle. Shroobs. Attacking. E...n...d...l...e...s...s...l...y...

Nobody could move. The Shroobs were firing constantly at Bowser's beloved castle. Toadsworth felt bad for him. Even though he was their enemy, he felt bad. Everyone had it rough these days.

One of the big gun things placed on the ground turned slowly toward them.

"Look! There's a ship! The one that escaped!"

"I see it! Fire the ground-to-air missile!"

And they did. Soon enough, the ship would be no more.

"Uh...P-Prince B-Bowser!" a Koopa said.

"What? Are they retaliating?"

"It's a Shroob missile, and it's headed straight for us!"

"WHOA!" Bowser shouted as he saw it. "Evasive action! Koopa Cannon! FIRE!"

"We...used our last shot, sir."

"Brace yourselves for impact!"

The giant Shroob missile looked nuclear. It was a big purple warhead with a Shroob painted on it.

It came closer and closer until...it nailed the engine square in the...engine.

The ship began to sink, and everyone lurched forward and held on to some part of the ship for dear life.

'Holy crud!' 'It's the end!' 'We're gonna die!'

"Not if we make it back home!" said the pilot, still trying to steer.

"Those alien DIRTBAGS! We gotta hold it together until we can get back!" Bowser shouted.

Everyone held their breath while the pilot tried to steer the machine.

Slowly...painfully...they crashed.

Right into the castle wall.

The ship burst into flames as Mario and Luigi crawled from the wreckage, almost as weak as before.

They hadn't been crawling long, however, when everything turned black, and they passed out.

"YES! The battle is won!"

The breach in the wall now allowed the Shroob ground force to penetrate the castle. The battle was quickly won as the Shroobs overcome the tired forces. The Commander personally made sure that each and every one of Bowser's troops were Molded and made his own. Their army was almost doubled.

In one word, things were looking hopeless.

Next time on: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time:

Once again, at the end of a chapter, is it all over? Battles are won and lost by both sides, but now, the Shroob army is doubled and the Toad population is dwindling. Even worse, Mario and Luigi are trapped in the new enemy base, and no one else from the ship is found... Find out how in the sam hill they escape in...Chapter Four: Escape

**Author's Note:**

**As players should know, there is barely anything from the game in this chapter. So...anyways, this chapter ended up being the longest yet. I wrote this chapter inhumanly fast because it was an exciting chapter. Please review! Only seventeen more chapters to go!**


	4. Back to the Future

Story #1 By: Drago321

MARIO AND LUIGI: PARTNERS IN TIME

Part 1: Invasion

Chapter 4: Back to the Future

Author's Note: Whew! My fourth chapter will now begin…remember, not my game, chapter divisions from IGN, all that jazz…I've played jazz…anywho…enjoy the fourth chapter!

Shroob forces had been gathering at Star Hill, their new base of operations. They knew that godly forces rested inside the Temple atop the Hill, and made to attack it. They gathered a large number of troops and stromed the Hill. Soon after their attack began, meteors from outer space blasted them apart. There would be no challenging the gods...yet. The Koopa Cruiser was being tailed by enemy ships, and peace negotiations were not going well. Soon they were under attack. They combated the enemy, and in the process, fried their engine. They were going to crash...in Hollijolli Village! It was sheer luck that Hollijolli Village was a place where airline pilots could get easy repairs. Not so fortunate was the fact that it had been destroyed in a Shroob attack. As the ship hit the outskirts of the village, the babies were sent out to investigate two 'villagers' lying on the ground. They came into contact with yet more Shroobs, and defeated them with ease. Toadsworth helped them to carry the older brothers back. In the morning, Toadsworth awoke to find that the brothers where all healed! It turned out that the babies had had some One-Up Mushrooms stashed away. And now came the difficult task of repairing the ship. The brothers fixed the leak of gas, and together everyone hauled the old engine out. They searched around for a new one and soon found it. Now they worked hard to put the new engine into the ship and hook it up. The job was done, and the crew took off into the night. They went past the new Shroob Castle, but not without being seen. The Princess ordered them shot down. Meanwhile...Star Hill would not work out. the Commander of the Shroobs wanted Bowser's Castle and his army for his own. And so he took it. He lay siege to Bowser's castle, and he was winning. Bowser's troops were running out of food. They would give up soon. Bowser's ship was hit, and they were going down. Again. Bowser requested that he get inside his own castle, and the pilot obliged. They went down, down, down...crash! Mario and Luigi, once again barely alive, crawled out of the wreckage in a desperate attemot to escape. It didn't work. They passed out.

Now, read on...

The Commander was very happy indeed. He stared out at his army, now advantagiously doubled. He looked around at the various Shroobs and Koopas, those of his original army and those of Bowser's army. He had gained many warriors and he had disabled a major force on this planet. There was only one thing that was strange about Bowser's army. Each and every one of them had an antenna sticking out of its head.

He was standing far to the west of the Mushroom Kingdom. It was a small place. It might have taken two days to cross the entire thing. Star Hill, their old military base, was to the north of the Castle. Toad Town, the source of their arrival, was to the south.

Their motives were being put to work just to the west of Shroob castle, in the big forest they had flown over on their way here. Hollijolli Village had been another source for their experiment, lying just to the east of their headquarters.

Soon enough, this Bowser's Castle would be their new military base of operations.

The antennae were gray things, with a blinking red orb on their top. They were receiving coded instructions from a tower erected similarly to the antennae. Bowser's old troops were currently getting directions from Star Hill.

It was a relatively easy system. The Commander relayed detailed directions to a trusted servant at Star Hill, who was imputing them into the system. This whole plan had been layed down since before the Shroobs arrival.

And now...

The Commander was going to take the castle for his own...with Mario and Luigi inside it.

"Maaaaarioooooo." crooned a soothing voice. "Maaaaarioooooo!"

"LUIGI! GET UP, YOU HUNK OF JUNK!" this voice was much different...

"Maaaaariooooo!"

"LUIGI! YOU HEARD ME! G...E...T...U...P!!"

Mario finally decided to open up his lazy eyes to see what was wrong. As soon as he opened them, he wished he hadn't. The first thing he felt was pain. And it was very hot. The pain was mostly in his head, but it was also aching all around his body.

He looked around to get his bearings and, hopefully, remember where he was. What he saw didn't make the scene any more enjoyable.

He was lying on a red cobblestone floor in a ceilingless room. There was a cavernous space above him, and he couldn't see forward because he was lying in a ditch.

Laying next to him was his brother Luigi, and leaning over Mario was none other than...Stuffwell. He was crooning over him, just like the voice Mario had heard in his waking.

"Maaaariooooo...is awake!! YAY! You're ALIVE! I was SO worried about you! You made it...YAY!!"

Now the crazy suitcase moved over to Luigi on his little legs and yelled, "Get up, MAGGOT! I said GET UP!! Getupgetupgetupgetupgetupgetupgetupgetupgetupgetup!"

Mario took his chances and spoke to the thing.

"Ah...Stuffwell...maybe I should handle this."

His throat burned as he said it. He slowly got up, his whole body aching as he stood. He groaned as he stretched out for the first time in a while. He took this time to look more at his surroundings.

Mario noticed that the walls were made of hastily put together stone, and there were multiple chains dangling around this dungeon-like place. Some of the chains had lights strung on them. He also noticed that it kept getting hotter somehow, and he didn't know why.

It was then that Mario realized what was behind them. First he saw the shadow covering most of the ditch where he was standing. Then he looked behind himself and almost ran into the Cruiser.

It was now that he remembered everything.

Hollijolli Village, fixing the engine, flying to the Castle, and then...here. Bowser's Castle. Of the past. The Shroobs had attacked, and they had crashed. They had seen from afar the Shroobs siege on the Castle and Mario wondered if it was still going on. He couldn't hear any battle noises. Had the aliens lost? It seemed unlikely.

He reached over and touched the battered ship, but almost immediately drew his hand away. The ship was extremely hot. He now knew why the air was so warm. There was no doubt that a fire resided inside. He turned back to Luigi to rouse him but then immediately realized something urgent.

There was no sign of Bowser, seven Koopas, the babies, or Toadsworth. There was a horrifying possibility that they were still in the ship! If so, Mario had to see if there were any survivors, and then try to help them escape from this place.

First things first, in case things got ugly, he had to move Luigi. He quickly grabbed him in a fireman's carry, hauling him over his shoulder. He went up and out of the ditch with him, and gently placed him in a corner of the room.

"Where'ya goin'?" Stuffwell asked, a bit too much of a cheery tone in his voice.

"To find everyone else..." Mario replied.

He knew it was kind of a risky and stupid thing to do, but he wanted to make sure that his friends were safe.

Right before he walked into the ditch again to board the dying ship, he noticed two things. One of them was that there were lots of blast marks on the ground, which he assumed were from the Shroob attack. One blast mark was right in the middle of where Mario and Luigi had passed out.

He breathed a quick sigh of relief. The blast had barely missed Luigi's head.

He also noticed something else. They were in the bottom-left corner of Bowser's Castle. Looking through into rooms ahead he saw a faint and heat-blurred image. He thought it was a broken-down wall.

He thought back to the crash, and remembered that as they were heading toward the castle the ship rattled as it hit something, and Mario had looked back to see what it was. It was that wall, but they had only scraped it and knocked about a third of it off.

Why was it now entirely destroyed?

He decided to not waste any more time...Baby Mario might be dying as he thought. And if his younger self was killed...well, he wouldn't be here to wonder about it.

So he ran over to the ditch and scanned the ship for any sign of the hatch they had used to get in.

He saw the outline of a cut in the metal. The hatch!

He knew that what he had to do next would hurt. A lot. He moved his hand until it was right above the crack. Then he quickly flew his hand down onto the hot metal, attempting to pry open the hatch.

"AAAAAAH! Crud!"

The metal singed a part of his hand. It was hotter now than the first time he had touched it. The hatch, unfortunately, only creaked open a little bit. Mario didn't dare try to open it again. He had to find another way.

The wheels in his brain began to turn, and the clock was ticking. He was thinking, thinking how to open the hatch without killing myself? He wasn't the hero of the Kingdom for just his jumping skills...

Mario hurried over to one of the chains dangling from above. He had a plan. The plumber reached up to grab a chain, and pulled. Hard. It came crashing down next to him.

Mario dragged the chain over to one of the Cruiser's portholes, with Stuffwell staring in wonder.

First Mario set down the huge chain. He took off his precious hat and stuffed his hands in it.

"This thing won't last long...I can get another one, right? They sell these in Toad Town..." when he was nervous, he jabbered to himself.

His goal was the hard metal circles bordering the window. He reached out and, using his hat to protect his hands, began prying off the bar.

He stopped after it was sticking out a little, and quickly dropped the now aflame hat.

"Jeez! Stop burning!"

He stomped the hat to put out the flame, and it was fine...just singed in a few places. The white M was now an N, though...a small hole covered one of the white lines.

"Great, now we're the Super Nario Bros!"

And he plopped it back on his head. He grabbed the chain and looped it through the part of the bar that was loose. Mario gripped both hands on the chain and pulled.

The bar was slowly peeling off the window! He knew he had to hurry, for the chain was getting hot from the bar.

"Al...most...there..."

Next thing he knew, the chain came loose and the bar flew off the window, clanging on the stone floor.

"Niiiice!" that was Stuffwell.

He dropped the chain and grabbed the bar. It was a little warm, not enough to hurt him. It was already cooling down.

He dashed over to the hatch and bent the border until it made a straight line. It would be a crowbar. He shoved one end of the bar into the hatch and pushed it so it rested on the part you walk on. Then Mario shoved inward as hard as he could.

Thankfully, the hatch slowly creaked open, and Mario wasn't getting burned. He used the bar to push it until the hatch was flat on the ground, and quickly threw the bar to the side.

"Here we go!" he said to himself. "Stuffwell!"

"YEEEESS?"

"If I'm not back here in...ten minutes, take Luigi and try to find a way out of here."

"Okaaaayyyy!"

Stuffwell seemed a little weird, like his brain went wacko...oh well, he kind of deserved it, whatever it was. Although it was more annoying than his normal smarty-pants self.

He turned back to face the Cruiser, preparing to go inside. It suddenly got very hot, as if the fire had just moved into a closer room.

"I hope this won't be a suicide mission..."

And he went in.

"Ah, oh, eeh!"

It hurt to walk on the hot metal. The fire hadn't reached this room yet. The cooling fans in the floor of the docking bay were not working. He cursed to himself as he realized that the crash probably took them out of commision.

He carefully walked across the green metal grates, wincing in pain. The speaker system came on, making Mario jump in surprise.

"EME...NCY! E...RGEN...!"

The thing crackled with static...but it wasn't done yet.

"This...is...Bowser...All...person...bridge..."

Mario gasped. They were all stuck in the bridge! They would only be held there if a fire blocked their path...he had to get there quickly!

He looked to the pathway out of the docking bay, but the archway was piled with those stupid boxes that Bowser kept in his ship. They must have rolled together when the crash occurred. But...next to the passage...in the wall was a gaping hole through the ship! He looked through it to see the back part of the bridge, and lots of fire.

Now he looked below him into the belly of the ship and saw the missile that had sunk them. It was stuck right in the new engine. It must have blown right through the bridge, right behind them. Right behind Mario and Luigi. That was it! When the thing crashed, they were sucked through the air hole and jostled out of the Cruiser!

Looking through the hole, he realized that it was pretty much impossible for that to happen...the only way they could have made it out was if they had banged against every part of that narrow gap...no one could survive that.

It was the only way to get to the Babies and Peach, so Mario was going to have to climb through it. The gap wasn't tall enough for him to stand in, and it was jagged and sharp from the missile. It was also likely to be extremely hot...

For the second time that day he had to MacGyver something up. And that's exactly what he did.

First, he did a visual on the piled up boxes. There was no possible way that he could get through those. He did see one that could be taken out of the pile without disturbing the others. He went for it.

"Holy...crud!" Mario said. "That...is...heavy!"

He lifted up the box, but almost immediately had to put it down again. He did get it away from the group, though.

He put the box on it's side and began kicking his foot on the nails. He had to do it hard enough to get rid of the nails, but not break the wood.

It took him about three minutes, but he eventually had a slab of wood...one of the sides of the box. As much as he wanted to see what Bowser kept in there, he couldn't. The packing of the box had melted from the heat and was now so hard that he could not get it off.

He didn't want what was inside, though...he wanted the wood. If he couldn't crawl through the hole, he would slide through.

He grabbed a tighter hold of the wood, stood on the railing of the bay, and threw the wood into the hole. Now he had a surface to jump on without impaling his hands. He jumped the short distance to the hole, and pulled himself up onto the wood.

If he had missed that jump, he would have fallen to his death in the workings of the dying ship. He was now on the wood, in the hole. What he had to do next required very sturdy shoes, which he thankfully had. He had to slowly push himself over the scarred and sharp metal on his piece of wood. It was extremely slow business, but eventually he tumbled onto the floor of the bridge on the other end of the missile's damage area.

"YES!"

He had done it...the hardest part of this mission...this suicide mission. It didn't seem like that anymore. But if Mario had just payed a bit more attention, he would have realized that it very well might be.

The speaker came back on as he was heading into the tunnel. Mario didn't hear it say: the great Prince...Kneel, minions...get up!...personnel...the brid...

He also didn't see the other side of the box, which had heavy black lettering. It said: EXPLOSIVE! USE WITH CAUTION! FLAME IGNITES!! This ominous message was printed on all of the boxes, and the flame had almost reached them.

He looked around and saw that the exit to the grate area was barred with flame. It would have been a dead end anyway...farther down that hallway in the grated area was a smaller wall of boxes.

Fire blocked the front of the bridge as well...now he knew why thy were trapped. The back window was completely blown open. That was where the missile had hit.

"Hello?!" he yelled over the noise of the fire. "Is anyone-"

He was interrupted by the loudest explosion he had ever heard. It was a force so large that it knocked him through the flames and into the front of the bridge.

"Aaaaahooow!" he had gone through the curtain of flames so fast that he was not even burning.

"What the HECK was that?!"

He would find out soon enough. But first...

"Guys?"

Even through the fire and smoke, he could tell that no one was there. He did hear a sort of crackling, static sound. It was near Bowser's chair, and the speaker system. It was completely fried. It was what probably started the fire.

He just then remembered that Bowser's grammar had not seemed right before. He had said 'All person bridge'. That didn't even make SENSE. It was the speaker. They weren't even there at all! He noticed something else and cried in relief. The other windows were smashed open. He was sure that his friends had escaped! The question was, where were they now?

He found the control for the sprinklers, and thankfully it was still working! He pressed the button down and water doused the place. It wasn't nearly enough to end the whole fire, but it did stop the fire in the bridge. Looking past into the hallway, he was disappointed to see that the fire there had not stopped.

But...the boxes were gone, and the fire had already extended around the turn. And then it came to him...that was what had almost blown him to bits! Those four boxes...they were explosives!

How far had the fire spread?

"Oh darn it!"

There were nearly fifty at the docking bay. Looking to the hole he had come through, he saw yet another effect of the explosion...the hole was buried. He stood and stared, not believing his bad luck. A HUGE explosion was about to happen, and he had no way of getting out. Didn't it just figure that Mario and Luigi were the biggest ones on the crew, and therefore couldn't get out of the smashed windows?

Mario headed toward the very front of the bridge, farthest away from the deadly bomb.

A second later, it came. The last thing he thought before it happened was whether it had been ten minutes or not.

BOOM!

He flew out of the bridge's front window, crashing the glass. He was falling, yet something didn't feel right. His head was reeling, but he had stopped falling.

"Uhh..."

That blast was huge...but it didn't feel nearly large enough. And why had he stopped falling? As he realized what had happened, he felt both joyful and yet more aggravated.

The Cruiser was pushed up right against the wall of Bowser's Castle, and Mario was sitting on the ship with his back against the wall. Far below him was the ground, with just a slick ship surface between them.

But that blast...the first blast with four crates was big. With fifty it should have been much bigger then that. It should have blown the wall away...

_**BOOM!**_

And so it did. The humongous blast rattled the whole castle and propelled the ship forward, smashing through the wall. If it had been there. The force of the blast had already ripped the rock to pieces. As the ship tipped past the wall, Mario saw that the entire castle was built over a pool of lava.

"Hasn't this been a great day?" he mumbled to himself.

No longer having the wall for support, he was trying to scramble back up onto the ship's glassy surface. A fall would mean a very hot death. Scrabbling on his feet, he finally made it through the front window again.

Where he was going, he had no idea.

That's when the ship began to fall. It tipped downward, beginning it's descent into the lava. Mario lost his balance and fell against the controls. The floor ahead was beginning to get steep. The place where the missile had hit was blasted open. He could see a hanging chain just outside it.

Soon the floor would be too steep to get up there. He had to hurry.

Screeeeeeeee!

Apparantly some rock below had broken away, for the ship went fully vertical. Mario was falling toward the window, and his death. Quickly, without thinking, he stuck his hand out to the nearest thing available...a smashed window.

"Ahhhhhhhck!" he screamed. "Oww!"

The glass pierced his hand sharply, and he felt warm blood trickling down his wrist. It was extremely difficult, but he needed to hold on. With inhumane endurance and perseverance, he pulled himself up to the next window.

He knew what he had to do. He had to get up to the big scar in the ship where the chain hung. He had to get there soon. The ship was falling. As he grabbed the next ruined window, the glass pierced his other hand. The chain was slipping out of sight. He needed to get to it. Only one more window until he was there. He reached up and grabbed it. The pain was tremendous. He pushed himself up one more time, and was now standing on one side of where the missile had hit. The chain was barely within jumping reach. He looked down at his bloody hands, and then at the rusty chain. It was life or death.

He chose life.

"Hraaaaa!"

Mario grabbed hold of the chain.

"The power of adrenaline..."

His grip slipped. The threat of lava was gone, but now he feared he would fall and break every bone in his body. This was it. He sat hanging there, nowhere to go, nothing to do except sit there and let the smoke in his lungs and blood in his hands kill him. He was already feeling the effects of the rust in his bloodstream.

He couldn't do it anymore. Mario let go, and fell. He had changed his mind. He chose death. He faintly felt what seemed like arms around him. Voices swirled and they mixed with colors. He was fed something, and a great amount of it. He was about to complain about it when he realized he could. Complain. Everything. He was back! A warmness flowed through him, and his vision returned from that chaotic blur.

He was looking up at Luigi, wide awake and okay!

"Hey bro! Quite the bang you made, eh?"

He laughed out loud, and slowly stood on his feet.

"What did that take, about 5 Mushrooms?"

"Four, actually."

Mario laughed again. This is why he so loved the Mushroom Kingdom. This is why they were heroes. That glorious produce only found in this place! Mushrooms! He could just stand here and jump for joy!

"How did you get up again?" Mario asked.

"Well, the bang kind of got me up..."

"That's a surprise." Mario replied sarcastically.

"Actually, Stuffwell heard the bang and went 'OHHHHH!' That's what woke me up."

"Where is Stuffwell anyway?"

"He's over there. He told me where you were, and I kinda almost fainted. VERY heroic escape, by the way. I figured something was wrong with him, and I found a spliced wire in his back. So I fixed him, and he got normal again."

"What? How did that happen?"

"Well, apparantly he was hit by a Shroob blaster defending us from the incoming army. He says that they blasted open the wall down there and marched in here. He hid us, but he was hit. He must have a pretty sturdy outer shell if he survived that. Well, he also says that he saw Bowser's army walking out of the castle with the Shroobs surrounding them."

"Welcome back to the land of the living, you two!" it was Stuffwell.

"You sounded pretty brave out there, Stuffwell." Mario said.

"It was all in my programming...it's just one trouble to the next with you two, isn't it?"

"Hey, uh Mario..." Luigi said. "So what's your story? What happened in there?"

For the next few minutes, Mario told Luigi of his most recent adventure.

"Wow...I couldn't have done that!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Stuffwell," Mario asked. "Can you search for any life signs in the area?"

"Yes I can! Let's see if the others are still with us!" he replied. "No Mario, I'm sorry, it's impossible to tell. The troops are outside, and I cannot detect numbers or location, just life itself. There is a lot of it. They might be here, or not."

Mario and Luigi sighed in unison.

"WAIT!" Stuffwell said. "I'm picking up something. How big exactly was that blast?"

"About fifty crates of five-foot by five-foot crates, maybe more...why?"

"Well, I think that blast was a little too big...It ripped open space...and time."

"What?"

"I'm saying that that blast created a time hole in this castle. Far from here, deeper in the dungeons. The main rip that the time machine created is still active, so this new one has linked to our time!"

"We need to get to it, then! These aliens are far worse then we anticipated...we're going to need backup if we have any hope of saving Peach."

"Exactly what I was thinking!"

"Well then, let's go!"

"BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

And Stuffwell returned to Mario's now healed hand.

"Let's go." Luigi said.

And with that, they headed off into the next room. The ship was lost, and maybe their friends were, too. Their mission was to escape, to go back to the future, hopefully with the people from the past. They were going to succeed.

But first, the troops came.

Bowser's troops, now each with an antennae on their heads, waltzed into Bowser's Castle. The Shroobs didn't follow them.The wall that they destroyed was still one room away, but Bowser's army could still see them. Some of his soldiers were coming at them!

"What is with those things in their heads?" Luigi asked.

"I may be watching too many sci-fi movies, but maybe the Shroobs are controlling them."

As the brothers looked again, they saw that Bowser's previous army's movements were mechanical. Like robots.

And they were still coming towards them.

"Are you ready for a battle, bro?"

"Let's go!"

This room consisted of various platforms connected by wooden bridges. The bridges were also suspended over the lava.

"Whoa, wait!" Luigi said.

He pointed and picked up two Mushrooms and eight Green Shells on the ground.

"We may need these."

The brothers crossed the first wooden bridge and came to the second platform...just as a Goomba warrior did as well. Goombas were Bowser's grunt soldiers, and they resembled brown squashed Mushrooms.

This one would be easy enough. Mario got in its face quickly and jumped on it. The pathetic thing squealed in pain. Mario then aimed a kick at the thing as it was still in the air.

His kick knocked it prone, and Luigi went in to do the same.

The other brother gave it a nasty uppercut that sent it off the platform and into the lava.

"One down, who knows how many to go!"

Now there were two bridges to choose from here. One in front of them and one to their right.

"Let's keep moving forward!" Mario said.

They came to the third platform, which had only one bridge heading left. That bridge came to the fourth platform, and four more Green Shells.

"You know, I think we'll only need these if we face the Shroobs themselves."

The next bridge went forward to the fifth platform, where two more Goombas were waiting for them.

"Ah, more excitement!"

Mario and Luigi each took a Goomba and nailed them with perfect jumps. Both Goombas then tried to charge Mario. He deftly jumped over both of them, timing his jump so that he landed on the second one, making another attack.

"Aieee!" they screamed.

But Mario wasn't done yet...as the Goomba retreated, he kicked low and swept it off it's feet.

Luigi jumped for his, and smashed it into the ground, killing it. The first Goomba rushed for Mario. He wasn't prepared, and only barely twisted out of the way. He then kicked the thing sky-high, where he heard it stick to the ceiling.

Laying on the ground where the creatures were was a Mushroom and a Super Mushroom. A Super Mushroom was grown better than a regular Mushroom and recovered more health.

"If only we had had one of those, eh?" Luigi said.

They picked up both. Down to their right was a red metal pathway that led to the room where the Shroobs had invaded.

"Hey, bro," Luigi said. "How about we go back to that place where there was that fork in the road? There might be more items and Goombas to kill!"

"Sure, let's go!"

The brothers went back to the second platform with two bridges. This time they went down the path they hadn't before...and came to another platform with two Goombas on it!

"Yes!" Mario cried.

He ran up to the first Goomba and kicked it into the other Goomba, hurting them both. He then stomped on the first Goomba again as Luigi was doing the same.

The things were dazed, but not done. The second one charged Luigi, who dodged it with amazing endurance! At the same time, the first one had charged Mario and took him by surprise.

The little thing completely bowled him over, making him bang his head on the hard rock. He saw stars, but could still get up and fight.

He got up, and both he and Luigi ran to the things, and kicked them into the lava.

There was one final bridge leading to one final platform, and on it was a One-Up Mushroom.

"Sweet!" the brothers said in unison.

Now they went back to the red metal platform and entered the room where the Shroobs had staged their invasion.

The first thing they knew, they were tackled by two more Goombas! They didn't know Mario's tactics. He kicked one into the other, and they both fell prone. This time, they wanted to mix it up a little.

Mario took out a Green Shell and threw it at the first Goomba. Back and forth, back and forth...the Goomba was reeling from being hit with that heavy shell over and over...

And then he fell over dead.

"That was easy..." Mario said.

Luigi took one out, too, and threw it at the remaining Goomba. He kicked it, and it hit the Goomba right in the head. It was unconcious. Unconcious wasn't good enough. Back and forth, back and forth, until the thing was no more.

They were just Bowser's mindless grunt soldiers, after all. Maybe after this mission he might actually be able to beat Super Mario Bros.

Before they could even get their bearings, they were swarmed by...another Goomba. Right behind them, however, was a Boo. A demonic spirit, also in Bowser's army.

This one tried to sweep through Luigi, but Luigi was too quick. He jumped up, and landed on the Boo as well. Mario nailed the Goomba with a jump, and Luigi used an uppercut on the flying Boo. The Goomba charged Mario, who easily dodged it's attack. The Boo tried to sweep through Luigi, but Luigi barely managed to sidestep it, and punch the Boo.

"Eeeakk!"

Mario killed the Goomba with another jump. Luigi jumped up and punched at the Boo. It squealed in pain, but did not die. It made a move for Mario, who had just killed his friend.

Mario expected the attack, and jumped on the Boo. The Boo immediately went dark and disappeared.

A Mushroom was lying on the floor next to Mario. He quickly grabbed it, but was then approached by two more Goombas. He used his same tactic to kick one into the other, and it worked. They just needed to kill these, hopefully, and they would be done.

Such was the life of a hero.

Mario and Luigi both nailed each Goomba in the mouth. The Goombas then charged Luigi. He dodged their attacks, and struck out wildly, hitting the first Goomba with his fist.

The brothers then slammed the Goombas into each other, killing them.

"It doesn't take much for these guys, does it?" Mario said.

In the corner of the room, Mario saw two Mushrooms and twenty coins. He went to grab them, and when he looked back, he saw Luigi being jumped by two last Goombas.

"Take this!" Mario yelled, and jumped on the first Goomba. Luigi got a hookshot punch on the second Goomba. They were used to these guys now. Both of them once more charged Luigi. He was ready this time. With great dexterity he jumped on both Goombas, leaving them to retreat razzled.

"Oh no, you don't!" Mario said, and pushed the first Goomba into the lava. Luigi tried to punch the last Goomba but tripped on the rock, resulting in a very weak punch. The Goomba shook it off quickly and charged at Mario.

He jumped over the pathetic thing and nailed it with a kick. Surprisingly, it was still alive! He aimed a punch at it and knocked it senseless over the pool of lava.

Now they could finally get their bearings.

This was a large room, with stairs leading up to a thin metal rail. The rail ran along the top of the room, and went into a room beyond. One of the only two ways out.

The other way was through the blasted wall that led outside. Mario looked out there and saw the Shroobs were gathered about a mile away. There would be no going out that way.

"Bro, let's see where this rail goes...maybe it leads to the time hole...eventually." Luigi said.

So they went through the archway at the top of the room. They came into the next room, which dropped down to a red metal bridge at the height of the floor of the previous room. This bridge was suspended directly over the lava.

Meanwhile...

After the crash, the babies were almost laughing. They thought the ride had been fun! But now Toadsworth and the others were talking nervously, and some pretty red lights had appeared. They called it fire. Then Toadsworth started breaking the pretty glass things! Then he was telling everyone to get out, and not worry about them.

But they were right there! He kept telling the others that Mario and Luigi were fine...the babies did not understand why they were worried about what was so plainly in front of their eyes.

The lights were getting bigger, and Toadsworth came back to the ship to carry the babies out. The group slid down chains and got to the ground. They didn't see Luigi lying in the corner of the room, and quickly passed into the next room.

They crossed the bridges that the Goombas hadn't tread on yet, and used the rail to go up to the room with the red metal bridge. It was there that Kamek came.

Kamek was Bowser's mentor and guider. He had raised him. He was a Magikoopa, a Koopa who was born with the power to make magic. They were very rare.

Kamek was the only survivor of the siege. The only person who hadn't been dragged away by the Shroobs and brainwashed. He had taken Bowser away and the seven Koopas had followed him.

Before he left, he used a spell to blow the group apart. Toadsworth and Peach were blown off their feet to the next room, and without the babies, they hoped to catch Bowser and Kamek.

The baby brothers were blown to a high wall of that room. They settled on a ledge that was about twenty feet above the bridge. Toadsworth coudn't see them, and they were too dazed then to think of crying for help.

They decided to just wait for help, and hope it came...

"Mama mia!"

"What was that?" Luigi said.

"I don't know..."

The brothers began searching for the sound of their catch-phrase. They looked up almost simultaneously and saw their baby selves, precariously perched on a high ledge.

Mario and Luigi ran over right below them and gasped in relief. They were alive! At least two of the people on that ship had escaped. Now they needed to find Toadsworth, baby Peach, Bowser and his seven pilots.

How were they separated? Luigi gasped as he saw that Baby Mario was attempting to climb down from the ledge. His baby self was trying to stop him. The baby's grib slipped and he almost fell. Realizing it was hopeless, he pulled himself back up.

"Babies!" Mario called.

"We can catch you!" Luigi added.

Baby Mario immediately jumped down into Luigi's arms. Instead he hit him in the head, almost knocking him unconcious. Thankfully the little Mario landed safely.

"Thank you very much!" Baby Mario said.

Mario held out his arms to catch Baby Luigi. Apparantly he did not want to jump.

"Mario!" Stuffwell called.

"What?" he replied. "I'm kind of babysitting here!"

"Maybe you could use me as a sort of cushionation device...I am well padded. Baby Luigi would likely feel assured by the sight of my luxurious leather."

"All right, then..."

Mario put Stuffwell in his arms, and, slowly, Baby Luigi Lowere himself down and fell. On Stuffwell. He began to laugh. It was very comfortable.

Mario let Baby Luigi down softly and Stuffwell said,

"We have located and been reunited with the babies. BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

He then closed up and went back in Mario's hand.

"You guys stay here, okay?" Luigi said.

"Yeah, you guys have to stay in the past..."

The brothers were about to enter the next room when the babies cried. Loudly.

"Mario!" Stuffwell again.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Allow me an apology. I was rushing. I forgot to mention how to move as a group of four."

"We know how to walk..." Luigi grumbled.

"You see, the babies can't understand us...it figures..." Stuffwell continued.

The babies were still crying, and Mario and Luigi each set to work to make them stop. They did little dances and made faces and threw the babies up in the air...catching them, of course...and eventually, both of them stopped crying.

"You see! They are not worthless! I suggest you join forces and move on together!"

The brothers made to move off again, but Stuffwell wasn't finished.

"Oh, wait a moment!" he said. "Moving as a group of four is quite vital! You each can move independantly!"

"That's great Stuffwell, but it's a little thing called free will!"

"Yes, but there is even more informationizing!"

"Oh great..." Mario murmured.

"And this is extremely convenient! You can give the little ones piggyback rides and move together!"

"What does E. Gadd think we are, stupid?" Luigi said.

"Now then, let's go find our missing companions! BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

And he folded up again.

"Good thing that's over...he's really annoying!" Luigi said.

"I heard that!"

They came to the door leading to the next room. It was a big old red metal door. In front of it was a large blue switch. A sign next to it read: 'Open the door by standing on the four-minion switch!'

Mario and Luigi, as well as the babies on their backs made enough weight to press the switch and open the door.

Together, they headed into the next room. A sign directly in front of them read: 'For places too high for adults to reach, the prince will jump off a minion.'

They looked to their side and saw a wall was blocking their path. If the babies could jump off of them, they could get on the wall.

"Useful signs, huh?" Luigi said.

Together, the brothers threw their baby selves up and onto the higher level of rock. The babies saw a block floating in midair up there. It was pulsing blue and had an image of a pipe on it. The babies hit it.

"Do you see-" Mario was interrupted because he wasn't there anymore.

The block had created a pipe, which Mario and Luigi now popped through.

They were on the ledge.

"Wow...I guess you guys are useful!" Luigi exclaimed. Ahead of them was another four-minion switch, and a metal door. The brothers picked up the babies and stpped on the switch.

The door opened ahead of them, and they entered.

There was what looked like a big black cage in front of them, and a sign hung on it. It said: 'Koopa Training Gymnasium For Prince Bowser Only!'

There was a small gap on the bottom of the cage. The babies could probably fit through.

"Let's let them have some fun here." Mario said as he let down Baby Mario.

Luigi let down his younger self, and the babies crawled through into the cage. Inside the cage the babies found a total of sixty coins and one One-Up Mushrooms.

"Yay!" they said.

They climbed out of the cage and shared their spoils with the brothers. All around this room were platforms, big and small. There were various items on the platform. The brothers left nothing behind.

There were twenty-six coins, two Mushrooms, a Mushroom Drop, and a Green Shell. At the top of the room was another blue switch with a metal door.

The four heroes jumped on the switch and watched the metal door creak open. They enetered the new room. The first thing they saw was a large red metal platform with a large rock ledge surrounding it from two sides. This was another wall that the babies could be thrown to. Hopefully there would be another pipe block up there, too. The babies saw that there was another pipe block, and there was another ledge above even this one!

They used the block to bring the brothers up to them, and then the brothers threw them up onto the top ledge. Unfortunately, there was no pipe block up here. There was a purple block, as well as another door with the now classic four-minion switch.

They had only two minions, though. The brothers hit the purple block and part of the top ledge moved down. The brothers could now get up!

"It seems we were wrong about you two!" Luigi said. "You really are something."

"Well, they are us!"

"Yeah, you have a point there."

The elder brothers picked up the babies and stepped on the switch. The door opened, and they went through.

When they went in, they saw that they were on another red metal platform, and they were standing right next to Toadsworth, holding Baby Peach!

They were also looking up at Kamek, who was flying in the air on her broomstick.

"Ah-HAAAAAA!" she said. "You little red and green insects! I thought I threw you in the lava! And now there are bigger ones, too! Well, if you're looking for Bowser, I just sent him to the safety of his room! It is the deepest room in this castle! And I have sent those remaining Koopas to give word to the Mushroom Kingdom of our predicament. And I was just about to do this..."

The evil wizard then drew her hand and sent a spell at Toadsworth, who immediately shrunk into a ball and flew into Kamek's hand.

"Now you're mine! Hehehehe! And I'll see to it that YOU are dealt with as well!"

She then used a spell to conjure up a Boo.

"Mario! Luigi!" Stuffwell called. "Have you ever seen a piggyback move in battle?"

"Yeah, like everyone watches Nanny Gladiators!" Mario said.

"Oh I love that show!"

"Just let us do our work!" Mario said angrily.

"I'll just watch, then."

Mario jumped toward the boo and threw Baby Mario down at him. Baby Mario kicked the Boo down, and Mario followed up by slamming the Boo into the ground with his boots. Luigi did the same, and the Boo darkened and died.

"Much more effective!"

"Heh heh heh..." Kamek muttered.

She conjured a Goomba from out of nowhere.

"Hey, bro...let's try a Green Shell...I have an idea..." Luigi said.

Mario took out a Green Shell and Baby Mario jumped on it. Mario and Luigi still kicked the shell back and forth, but now the little Mario was flinging his arms wildly, catching the Goomba with his tiny fist every time.

The Goomba then fell quicker than they had before.

"AAAACK!" Kamek screeched.

She laughed again as she conjured up yet another Goomba. This time, Luigi took out a Green Shell, and Baby Luigi did the extra damage. Soon enough, this Goomba fell to the four brothers, too.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaack!" Kamek screamed. "How long do I have to do this?! I'm in a hurry!"

She made a Goomba and a Boo, then flew out of the room.

"OK, then..."

"BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

Mario used Baby Mario to propel himself up, then once again smashed the Goomba to the ground.

Luigi used Baby Luigi to uppercut the Boo, then he hammered down with his fist. The Goomba charged at Luigi, and he punched the thing back. Meanwhile, the Boo tried to sweep through him, but Baby Luigi kicked it away.

Mario and Luigi threw their baby selves at the creatures, then jumped in to kick them to oblivion. They were done. It was time to chase after Kamek.

There was a series of rock platforms increasing in height until they cam to a wooden bridge. The brothers croosed it and found a Green Shell on the ground.

They moved higher along a few more platforms, and came to another bridge. Waiting for them there was a Boo, and a Shy Guy. Shy Guys were little dog-like creatures who wore masks on their faces. This one had a cannon strapped to his head.

The Boo approached Luigi, who punched it back about a foot. Mario and Baby Mario attacked the Boo, who was now on his last limbs. The two Luigis attacked the Shy Guy, and his cannon wobbled on his head.

He walked up to Mario, and shot out a Bullet Bill at him. The cannon fire bowled him over, leaving his bruised and knocked prone. The Boo went for Luigi, and Baby Luigi socked it in the mouth, killing it.

The Marios quickly teamed up on the Shy Guy and knocked it's cannon off. It had no way to defend itself. The Luigis came in and threw it into the lava.

"At least we had a bit of variety..." Mario mumbled.

His bruises hurt.

They went over the bridge and came to another platform that was attached to a bridge. They crossed the bridge and found two Boos and a Shy Guy waiting for them.

"Oh great..." Luigi mumbled.

Mario threw Baby Mario into the cannon. A second later he exploded out, hitting both Boos. He was unharmed. Meanwhile, Mario had gone up and kicked over the Shy Guy.

Both Boos went for Luigi. Luigi took one, and Baby Luigi took the other. They went back wailing.

All four brothers went up in hand-to-hand combat with the Boos, and made short work of both of them.

The Shy Guy ran up to Luigi and shot at him. He jumped on the Bullet, knocking it away. Once again., the Marios came in and decked the cannon, then the Luigis finished him off. They had won. They were invincible.

"Those Shy Guys are a pain..." Mario said.

They hopped up a short ledge and crossed another bridge to see another final Boo and Shy Guy.

"Here we go!"

Mario left Baby Mario and went up to knock the Boo into the sky. He did, then it swerved around and went for Luigi. He didn't see it, but his younger self did. The little one jumped on the Boo, sending it back to Mario. He nailed it into the ground, and it disappeared.

Now there was just the Shy Guy.

"Why do the enemies always go for me?" Luigi asked.

Luigi made a great twirling jump and knocked it's cannon off. But it had backup. A team of flying Shy Guys brought in another one, then quickly flew away.

It went for Luigi.

"Big surprise there!" he muttered.

He knocked away the Bullet, and Baby Mario worked with Mario to bring it down. A Mushroom lay at their feet. They got it, then entered the next room.

Inside it was a sign hanging next to a pipe. The pipe had a blue lid on it.

"Maybe it's a four-minion pipe?"

The sign said: 'Use four minions to open the pipe lid. Yes, this is a four-minion pipe.'

"Does that answer your question?"

The four brothers stepped onto the pipe and sunk down deeper into the castle.

Through the blasted wall came the Shroob troops. They were storming the castle, looking for any survivors and taking it for their own. They were coming. One grunt soldier saw the mangled remains of some of Bowser's troops. They had sent a few in here as a precaution. There were intruders. The pilots and maybe this Bowser himself were still alive. They quickened their pace.

Tne pipe spat the out on another platform. This platform had another pipe, presumably to get back up. They headed into the next room.

On the ground in front of them were two Green Shells. They picked them up and continued. Here there was also another high ledge that was only baby accessible.

"Here we go again..." Mario said as he and Luigi heaved their babies onto the metal.

"What's up there?" Luigi asked.

No answer.

"Babies?" Mario called.

Once again, no answer.

The ledge led into another room, and there was no pipe block in sight. This mini room did have a purple block in it. The babies hit it, hoping something cool would happen. And something did.

Out of the metal floor where the older brothers stood came a bridge. It stretched over to another platform of metal. The babies came out of the room with smiles, and jumped into the brother's arms. Together they crossed the bridge and came to another blue switch.

They knew what to do.

They stepped on it, and the red metal door in front of them opened. They stepped through into the room beyond.

In this new room the four brothers found another ledge that obviously led to another block. Out of the rock floor extended one metal plank of a bridge, laying vertically.

The bridge was partially started.

"This is a little too easy." Luigi said.

They threw the little ones up into the room. The little brothers found another room, except this one was larger. There was a purple block, and they hit it. It created another bridge, which the elder brothers crossed.

The older ones were just coming to the bridge's end when they heard a voice.

"Mario! Luigi!" Stuffwell again. "If I may, there appears to be an unfamiliar block up there..."

He was looking at the platform, which had two colorful blocks. One was solid, the other looked transparent.

"Are you aware of how to hit and activate that block?"

"Yes, Stuffwell..." Mario said. "One of us hits the solid one, and then the other one turns solid, and the other one of US hits that one. Then something happens."

"Okay then...BACK TO ADVENTURE!"

The babies had found a One-Up Mushroom on the ground. They had moved on to see some pillars leading up to something, when they were jumped by two Goombas with antennae.

The brothers had learned a fighting lesson from their older selves. They both went to deck the Goombas senseless. The Goombas, however, retaliated, charging both babies. The barely dodged their attacks. Now they leapt at them again, and the Goombas tried to tackle them back.

But the babies were too quick. They knocked them back before they could get close.

Luigi nailed his into the wall, killing it. The first one charged him, and he killed the other one with a kick. Mario bent to pick up twenty coins, but as he was getting up, two more Goombas launched themselves at them.

Mario threw the coins at the Goombas, knocking them over. Then they went in for the attack. Both Goombas ganged up on little Luigi, who threw them both back. They kept kicking and punching to no avail.

Now both Goombas tackled Mario. The second one was thrown against the wall. Dead. Mario slammed the first one into the ground, squashing it.

They were defeated. The little brothers looked to the pillars and saw that they were too high to get up on. Suddenly, right before their eyes, a new, smaller pillar was raised! They could get up!

They jumped across four pillars until they saw two colorful blocks. One looked like it almost wasn't there. Mario grabbed the first block, only to see it disappear! The second block was there, though, so Luigi reached for it. Now they both were gone!

The elder brothers started along the platform when they saw two Shy Guys...and two Boos! Both brothers used the enemies' cannons against them, blasting each one before they were wrestled out of their hands.

The Boos tried to sweep through each brother, but were punched to the side. Mario made to knock the cannon of of the first Shy Guy, but tripped up and only scraped the guy.

Luigi was more successful. He made for a haymaker and swept of the second one's cannon! The first one shot at Luigi, but nothing came out! He shot again, and the Bullet emerged, knocking Luigi prone. There was no backup for the defenseless one.

The Boos then tried to take Luigi down. He was dazed, but still managed to dodge both of them. Meanwhile, Mario knocked the cannon off of the other Shy Guy. Luigi attacked the second Shy Guy as the first one called for a new cannon. He received it with glee, and used it to blast at Mario. He barely missed. Mario heard the wind past his ears as the Bullet flew by.

The other Shy Guy called for help, but still did not receive it. Both Boos each took a brother, and Mario killed the Boo attacking him. He then ran up to the Shy Guy with the cannon and knocked him into lava. Luigi then killed the other Shy Guy.

The last remaining Boo swept through Mario, nearly possessing him with demonic spirits. Mario ran after him and stuffed his fist right through it. A Mushroom dropped at his feet. They were quickly jumped by two last Shy Guys before they could react.

Both brothers went in to fight melee. Both smashed the cannons with their feet, but they did not budge. Both went for Luigi, and blasted their Bullets at him. He could not dodge them both, and was hit by both weapons.

"OOOOOhhhhh..." he groaned in pain.

The weakened brothers knocked their cannons off. The first one had his immeadiately recovered, as did the second. They both went for Luigi again, except now he was ready. He knocked both Bullets away.

Mario killed the first one with a mighty blow, and Luigi made the second one's cannon useless. No backup arrived this time. Mario went in for the kill, and ceased it's life with a throw into the lava.

They found twenty coins on the ground, and took a quick Mushroom break. All of their injuries were instantly healed. They took a minute to get their bearings. There were metal pillars leading up to another platform. The last one was too high to leap on. But then, right before their eyes, that last pillar lowered! They could get up!

They did climb up, and were almost instantly cornered by three Shy Guys.

"Let's mix it up a bit..." Mario said.

He took out a Green Shell. They kicked it back and forth. The thing's cannon wobbled and fell, crushing the shell. It was not dead. Luigi took out another shell and aimed it at the same one. Eventually, the first of three fell.

The two remaining ones both headed for Luigi. He dodged the first Bullet, but was nailed by the second one. They attacked again, and both fired wildly toward Luigi. They both missed by a lot.

Still in close combat, the brothers knocked both of the creatures cannons off. Both cannons were replaced immediately, and they shot toward the brothers. Mario and Luigi each knocked their own missiles back at them, killing both. The creatures dropped a Green Shell.

Next to the brothers was another space for a bridge.

Continuing along the pillars the babies had found a way out. Below them were Mario and Luigi, with a place where a bridge could be lying next to them! There were some platforms hugging the wall that led to more colorful blocks by the babies. They made for them, and the babies pressed these, too.

A bridge was built leading to another platform. The babies joined up with their older selves and crossed the bridge. Another blue switch lay before them.

"These four-minion switches are pretty useful!" Luigi said. In front of them was twenty coins. This new room had a very large cage, and seemingly no way out. Off to the side of the room was another ledge that led to a mini-room. There was also a very big block with a Shine Sprite on it. A Shine Sprite is a source of light in the Mushroom Kingdom.

There was a sign beneath it. It read: 'When all is dark and your path is shrouded in evil shadows...Don't freak out! Hit the floating Shine Block and turn on your own miniature sun!'

The brothers noticed that the mini-room was very dark. They threw the babies up into the room, and the babies saw that there were some glow-in-the-dark panels. There were not enough to walk on, though.

The older brothers hit the Shine Block and the mini-room brightened. There were some unglow-in-the-dark panels to walk on. The floor was made up of spikes. They had to be careful. They came to another glowy platform just as the light went out.

The older brothers noticed the sudden darkness and hit the button again.

This went on for a while until the brothers heard something back by the front of the cage. They ran over to see that the little brothers had just come out of the cage! It was open!

The babies had gone through the other side out into the cage. There was a giant floating chest in the cage, and it held a sparkly little glass shard. Stuffwell had come out and jabbered a bit, and the babies had decided to keep it. The cage door had opened when the chest was opened.

They showed the thing to the older brothers, who put it in Stuffwell.

Inside the cage was another red metal door, and that too had opened when the chest was opened. They went through the door and found that there was another four-minion pipe. Was there another level to the castle? How much farther until they found the time hole, and Kamek?

They sank down deeper into the castle.

The Shroobs had just sunk to the second level of the castle. They had seen many dead troops, and many pushed switches. They broke into a run and were now at the pillar room.

The brothers sank into the last pipe room, and leaned against the pipe that led back up, taking a rest. Little did they know, the Shroobs were coming closer. After about two minutes, Mario heard a noise coming from the upper pipe.

"There's someone coming..."

He looked up the pipe to see a Shroob hurtling toward him!

"Ahhh!" he exclaimed. "The Shroobs! We have to get out of here!"

The four brothers ran out of the pipe room just as the Shroobs were entering.

The next room had large stairs leading up to a last blue switch and a painted door. This was obviously the passageway to Bowser's bedroom. The time hole must be there. They ran up and slammed on the switch. They entered his room and closed the door just as Shroobs began piling on the stairs.

They entered the room to see Kamek and Bowser unconscious on the floor. Toadsworth was holding Peach and staring at the time hole.

"All right, are you? Jolly good!"

"Toadsworth, we don't have time for this-"

The Shroobs were piling against the door and the time hole had begun to disappear!

"We need to go back...back to the future! Where we came from! We need backup."

"I'm not going with you...I wouldn't put her in such danger..."

The door began to crack.

"It's either safety, or Shroobs. Is that such a hard choice?"

The hole was only a few inches wide.

"GO!"

The brothers pushed Toadsworth in, and he was sucked into the time hole. Luigi jumped right in after him. The Shroobs burst through the door. Mario tripped as he ran for the time hole, and just barely stuck his finger in. He was gone. The time hole was gone.

They were back to the future.

Mario blasted out of the time hole. He was in a storage shed. The castle's garden shed! They were back!

They could almost cry. They had made it. Toadsworth was looking around anxiously.

"Are we...in the future?"

"Yeah...we had better go see the Professor. Last time he saw us, Luigi accidently fell in the time hole."

"That seemed like ages ago!"

They walked over to the spacious courtyard, into the castle, and down through the throne room. They found the Professor hard at work with the alien in a tank and an electric monitor.

The Professor noticed them and gasped.

"You're back!" he said. "I can't believe it! And...it seems as if you brought back your past selves! So, did you find Peach?"

The brothers shook their heads no.

"Professor!" it was Stuffwell. "I must inform you...the Mushroom Kingdom of the past is in gargantulic trouble!"

For the next half hour or so, the brothers told the Professor of their story. Toadsworth had followed them silently.

"Hmm...so it's true. These Shroob creatures have made off with the Princess, eh?"

Stuffwell then showed him the shiny thing the babies had found, and he almost died.

"YOWZER!!" he said. "That's a Cobalt star shard! The time machine's fuel source! Why was it in Bowser's Castle?! And how did it get broken?"

The thing floated over to the alien's tank. The sleeping thing began screaming in pain!

"It's driving it crazy!" Mario exclaimed.

Then, the shard fell to the floor. After a moment of thought, the Professor spoke.

"Maybe...we can use this thing to fight the Shroobs!"

At this, the shard flew away down a side hallway.

"After it!" E. Gadd screamed.

The brothers ran after the flying star, and they chased it to the Toads' quarters. There, it began spinning, and dug a hole right in the middle of the room! There was an explosion, and the shard raced back up to the surface. Out of the ground came...a time hole!

The retrieved the now dead shard and went back to the Professor. He was astounded by what they told him.

"Maybe it's telling us something. Maybe if you can get the other shards, we can defeat the Shroobs! Maybe this time hole leads to a shard! We must repair the Cobalt Star! I say that you return to the past and find another shard! But first, some Mushrooms. On the house!"

After they had rested, they decided to go back into the past. They needed to save the Princess. The question was, would they find a way back?

"Oh, Toadsworth!" Mario asked.

The old one was off on business, so he was questioning the younger one. He had taken Toadsworth's room.

"Yes, Mario?"

"I was wondering...how did you manage to escape from Kamek?"

"Well, she let us out when she saw the time hole. She didn't know what it was, and wanted me to test it. I, of course, didn't, and I approached her and Bowser. In other words, I fought them!"

"Well, you weren't appointed Peach's guardian for no reason!"

"I'm going to continue researching this thing for more weaknesses. You two, do what you have to do, okay?" E. Gadd said this after they were rested.

They went to Toadsworth's room, and jumped into the time hole. Into the past. This time, intentionally.

The unlucky Shroob who had to report their loss to the Commander wasn't very happy. He had been angry, yes, that they had lost this pest once more, but was also glad that they had taken the castle. And Bowser with his servant, as well. They were to be used for information.

He had felt something disturbing, though. Even from far away. Like...a weapon. It was gone now.

He was now traveling to the Shroob Princess to tell her of their victory.

"My Princess, we have taken the castle. And the army."

"Good...but something troubles you. What is it?"

"There was something in the castle. It felt...disturbing..."

"What?! What are you talking about?"

"Something...like a weapon...but do not worry. It is gone now."

"You fool! That was the Star! Why did you not recover it? It is priceless!"

"The enemy, the pest, did escape, though, my Princess...I do not feel that they will be back."

"You let them- They took it! They know it's power! You fool! It will destroy us!"

"Wait...I feel it again...It is faint, but...it is heading toward Toadwood Forest! From where I cannot tell..."

"Toadwood Forest?! I feel it too...they cannot learn our secret! You must make sure they do not enter-"

"I will, my Princess. I will stop them. Whatever it takes..."

**Author's Note:**

**This was an extremely long chapter. About double the normal size. Well, now they have a mission, and are heading off into the past. And maybe they'll discover the Shroobs' secret! Find out in Chapter Five: The Quest for Vim. Part one's finale chapter!**


	5. Desperate Acts

Story #1 by: Drago321

_**Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time**_

_Chapter 5: Desperate Acts_

_Part 1: Invasion_

**Author's Note: As I've said before, this game and story belongs to Nintendo and AlphaDream, although my interpretation of it...is mine. These chapter divisions are from the game walk through on . If you wanna know when each chapter's going to end, and where, go on Ign and go to the guide for this game. Finally, we arrive at the final chapter for Part One. The first quarter of this FanFic. Here we go!**

Last time on: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time:

Our famous brothers woke up in a broken castle: Bowser's Castle, in fact. It had been invaded and taken by the Shroobs, and their army was nearly doubled in size. It seemed especially hopeless for the brothers to do anything about the alien invasion, and after a nearly fatal attempt to find any survivors of Bowser's ship, the brothers decided to explore deeper into the Castle to try to find a rogue time hole. Little did they know, the Shroobs were right on their tail. Deep in the Castle, the brothers found something; a shard of glass which they soon discovered was a piece of the Cobalt Star, the power source for E. Gadd's time machine. They also discovered that it had an alarming effect on the Shroobs; and now the brothers are headed back to the past to try to find the rest of these Shards...and a way to beat the Shroobs.

Now, read on...

"Toadsworth!!!"

Bowser's cry echoed throughout the dank cell. The little Koopa sprang up and looked around his new home with beady little eyes. He saw...nothing. Just a dank, dark, wet, smelly cell. He hated cells. And dungeons. That's why they were for the ignorant ones, the ones who didn't follow the rules. What rule had he broken?

His cell must have been twenty feet high, and at the very top, there was one small window. Growing through the window and into the cell were a few purple Mushrooms.

"It's changed," he said. "What happened to me?"

The last thing Bowser could remember was Kammy returning to him with that old Toad guy and the Princess in some kind of orb. Then...and then...Kammy said that the whole of Bowser's army had been captured by the Shroobs. Then there was a very big boom, and Kamek dropped the orb thing. It burst open, and with a flash of light, Toadsworth came leaping at him. He tackled him to the ground, and then...Bowser couldn't remember past that. The last thing he saw was Toadsworth winding up his fist to deck him into next week. Or the dungeon. But if Toadsworth had put him here, then why was the outside infested with Mushrooms? He turned around and noticed that there was another cell across from his. He ran to the bars that restricted him from escaping and peered inside the other cell, hoping...for what? Another feeble trapped being, maybe one of his Koopas...?

What he saw instead was much better, because the resident of the other cell was none other than Kammy Koopa! His guardian was lying face-first on the stone floor of her cell. Sleeping. Or unconcious. Or dead. In his mind, Bowser ruled out the last possibility. Who would want to keep a dead prisoner?

"Kammy," he said softly. "Kammy!"

The Koopa didn't stir. Bowser tried again, this time with a louder voice.

"Kammy!" he said again. "KAMMY!"

Bowser's voice echoed throughout the prison he was in, and Kammy did not stir. He yelled again, and the sound of his voice broke through the prison and out onto the surface. The barren surface. The dark surface. The dead surface. The purple surface. And still, Kammy Koopa did not stir.

"It is a weapon, Commander."

The Shroob Princess and her army's Commander were having another talk.

"I sensed a small disturbance in my bloodstream every time I gazed at that Koopa's Castle. I thought at first that it was longing for total control of both political sides of this Kingdom, but now that you have brought me this news, I have likened the feeling to something that I have felt not long ago. This thing called the Cobalt Star...It dealt me great pain once, both physical and emotional. The last time that that blasted thing was in my life, I lost someone very dear to me...do you remember that, Commander?"

"I do, my princess."

"I thought that Star was destroyed when..."

"Princess?"

"The thing that I sensed at that Koopa's Castle was only a mere fraction of what I felt before. I believe that the Star was split...maybe into many pieces, maybe into only two or three. I believe that one of those pieces was found by that Koopa, Bowser."

"He does not know what it does to us?"

"I don't think so. However, I think that the brothers, the ones from the future, do know. That is why they came back. They are looking for the rest of it."

"Do you think that it can destroy us?"

"If it is put back the way it was, then yes. It can. That is why we need to stop them at all costs."

"Do you believe that another piece of the Star is in the forest: Toadwood Forest?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, go there. Head to our base there. If the brothers know about our base and what we're doing here...well, let's say that the Star will be the least of our problems. Find them. Stop them. And take the piece of Star and bring it to me. If there is another one in the forest, find it, too. Make up to me for your failure at Bowser's Castle."

"I will, My Princess."

Bowser sat alone, crying, in a corner of his smelly cell. He was done for. If Kammy wasn't dead already, she probably would be soon. And even worse, Bowser feared that the Shroobs were the ones who had captured them, and not the forces of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Mushrooms outside his castle wall were proof of that. He didn't know what to do. Were their keepers even going to see if their prisoners were still alive? Bowser hoped not, because that would mean seeing what had caused all this in the first place. The Shroobs. Those stupid aliens. He just wanted to die. There was absolutely no hope. That's when he heard it. It was a groan. A pained groan, but definitely a healthy one.

Kammy Koopa was awake.

Bowser ran over to the bars of his cell. He had to be careful not to touch them. He already knew from trial and error that they had an electric charge running through them. It was a nice touch. Bowser intended on keeping them that way when he reclaimed his castle.

"Kammy!" he yelled. "You're awake!"

"What? Bowser? Where am I?"

"You're in the dungeons of our castle. I think the Shroobs captured us."

"Bowser...owww...sorry to break it to you, but these aren't our dungeons."

Kamek slowly stood up and stretched herself out.

"Yeah...definitely not ours. We put rats in ours."

Kamek touched the bas holding her in her cell.

"Owww!!!" she exclaimed. "And we don't have these."

"Then whose dungeon are we in?" Bowser thought for a second before he thought of an answer.

"Hey...are these Princess Peach's dungeons? That's it, right?"

"No way," Kammy replied. "Princess Peach's dungeons are like the luxury suites on the Carnival Koopa...I should know. I spent a week of my life there when I stole a Koopa Leaf from the market when I was 5. I don't know if she really considers that bad living..."

Both Koopas heard a metal door slam against a wall, and then slam shut. Footsteps could be heard coming toward them.

"Either way, I think we'll find out soon enough." Kammy whispered.

Two Shroobs appeared at each Koopa's cell door.

"Don't try to escape, or you'll be vaporized."

"What did they say?" Bowser asked Kammy. "English please."

One Shroob drew a crude picture of Bowser trying to run away from a Shroob, and when he was finished, another Shroob shot the drawing of Bowser. There was now a 2 foot hole in the floor where Stick Bowser was.

"Okay, okay, I get it. No funny stuff."

One Shroob slipped through the bars of each cell and grabbed his prisoner while the other Shroob walked halfway into the cell, in between the hallway and the cell itself.

"I guess Shroobs can disable the force field." Bowser muttered.

His reply was a poke in the back with a pistol one of the Shroobs carried.

Both Koopas were led into a room that could only be described as a torture chamber. There were deadly looking machines scattered all around the room, and every one of them looked like they would be extremely painful and agonizing to the victim.

"Hey!" Bowser said. "You guys swiped these from our Castle!"

"Shhh..." Kamek said. "Quiet, Bowser."

Both Koopas were silent as the four Shroobs strapped them each to a stretcher. Neither of them could hold their silence any longer when two more Shroobs entered the room and grabbed whips.

"Hey wait a second!" Kamek shouted. "Why would you need to do this to us? What did we do to you?"

In a language that only his fellow Shroobs could hear, one said, "Because you took something that belonged to our new Princess. For that you will be punished."

Both Shroobs raised their whips to strike. Right before they brought them down, Bowser saw a window...at eye-level. Right when he looked out the window, he realized quickly that they weren't in Peach's Castle. They weren't even in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore! Bowser didn't think they were even on the planet. In his heart, he knew exactly where they were, even though he had never seen it.

They were on the Shroob homeworld.

A flash of light seemed to burst through the wooden pier. The rotten lumber was uprooted, and a red and gold hole appeared where the wood had been. The forest rippled as dozens of little creepies and crawlies scurried away from light the likes of which they had never seen.

The four brothers flew out of that hole, and landed on the steps of the wooden pier. Hard. Just as the brothers started to get their bearings in this new environment, the rotten wood below them began to collapse.

"Let's move!" Mario yelled. He scooped up the babies and jumped off the collapsing pier, followed closely by Luigi. The pier completely crumbled and fell into murky water, where the brothers could see multiple fish scurrying out of the way. The time hole shrunk and closed just before the pier hit the water.

"Well, no more boats are going off from that thing." Mario said.

The brothers took their first chance to get their bearings and look around the place that the time hole had put them. They wished they hadn't. Baby Luigi started crying, and the adult one wasn't far behind.

There were gnarled old trees bordering a cobblestone path leading deeper into the forest. On one side of this path was a cliff edge, protected by a twine rope crudely tied to wooden posts. Needless to say the brothers kept their distance.

They continued along the path until they got to a clearing where there was an earthen ramp leading up to three hollow tree stumps.

On the ramp the brothers found a few dirty coins, and a sign in the ground.

"What does it say?" Mario asked.

Luigi read: "Voices call to travelers here...They call from inside stumps...Their voices are many...that's it."

"That's weird...let's go check out the stumps! We gotta look everywhere for another piece of the Cobalt Star."

They walked up the ramp and found a few more coins on the road.

"Jeez, people don't know how to keep track of money here." Luigi said.

The brothers came to the first stump and quickly found a problem.

"It's too high."

"What?"

"We can't climb up there...look, that tree must have been HUGE."

"Wait..." Luigi said. "I hava an idea. Maybe we can chuck the babies up there to check the stumps out...a little alley-oop action."

"All right, on three...1, 2, 3!"

Both babies flew up and into the stump. They found a few coins, but nothing else of value.

"Wait a second...Mario how are we gonna get them outta there?"

Fortunately for the brothers, there was also a two-man spring in the stump for any wandering Toads who got stuck. The babies jumped on it and popped right out.

"Sweet!" Mario said. "Let's try the others."

Soon enough, the brothers were a couple coins richer and about to launch the brothers up to the last stump.

"1, 2, 3!"

Both brothers landed in the stump...right next to a Koopeleon! With a hiss and a snap of it's tongue, the Koopa Chameleon leaped at the babies.

The thing didn't know what hit it. For the record, it was Baby Mario. The little hero hit the creature dead on, and it got it's wind knocked out of it. Baby Luigi then hammered it against the side of the stump, and it scampered through a little hole in the base of the tree. Beaten.

The babies popped right out of the tree into the older brothers' arms.

"What took you so long? No money?"

The brothers decided to continue on, having not found any sign of another Shard. The path continued through a little canyon of stone.

The brothers came upon another clearing with a path leading off to the right. Another stump was blocking their way forward. As the brothers tossed the babies up to get the coins within, they continued on past the stump. What they saw almost knocked them over. The babies jumped back out of the stump, money in hand, and walked by the brothers. What they saw, leaning against a tree, bleeding and bruised, was a Toad.

Beyond him was a crashed chariot from Princess Peach's Castle. Or Shroob Castle now. It had taken a big gouge out of the tree where it had previously lain..

The dying Toad cracked open his eyes and made a move to stand up.

"Mario." he said. "Luigi."

The brothers were extremely confused. How did this Toad from the castle know them? No one knew them in the past. Unless...It clicked for Mario. The face of the Toad was what did it. It took him a few seconds, because he hadn't seen him for a while. Since the time machine left with Princess Peach, to be exact. This was one of the two Toads who left with her. A link to the future, dying in the past. He had to know what happened.

The Toad had to live.

"Thank goodness you recognized me." the Toad wheezed. "Mario, Luigi...I need to tell you something. You know of the aliens called the Shroobs, right? Well, our time machine arrived in the Shroob Castle...that horrible place. I was standing in the back of the machine with the other Toad, when we saw some big figure walking toward the Princess. She walked out of the time machine and grabbed the Cobalt Star. The thing started wailing, and she thrust the Star at it. There was this big flash of light, and the thing was gone. I walked out of the time machine and saw...her."

"Who? The Shroob Princess?"

"Yes. Princess Peach thrust the Star at the Shroob Princess, too, and then...the Star flew out of her hands and at the time machine. The Star exploded, Mario! I saw the other Toad's lifeless body fly out of the time machine and out a window! Where the star exploded, a big red and gold hole appeared, and the time machine was sucked through it. Then the hole disappeared, and I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. Then one of the Shroob things dragged me to a cell."

"They captured you? How did you escape?"

"I'm...getting to that. Listen, Mario and Luigi, I don't have...much time. I have to tell you this. My cell was right below some kind of a Shroob meeting room. I went to my vent and I heard things. I heard about them, the Shroobs. The want to completely control our planet, and then move on to other worlds. They talked about you guys, but I didn't know how they knew about you."

The brothers exchanged glances.

"But I knew that I had to come here. This is where it's all happening, guys."

"What?" the brothers replied. "What's happening?"

"Their...plan. Listen...there's a base in this forest. They came here because of us Toads, I think. I came here to stop them, but...they shot me down as I entered the forest. They're hunting me. And you. They said they wanted part of the Cobalt Star. What happened to it? Did it get split apart?"

"Yes...but we only have one piece of it. We're looking for more."

"Good. Find them. It may be the only way to stop them. Anyways...this base. It's like a factory. They call it the Vim Factory. They use the ashes of our bodies to make this fuel stuff. It powers all of their technology. They call it Vim, obviously. I came here to try to destroy the machine."

"Machine? What machine?"

"They have something that converts our ashes into this Vim. You must get in this factory and destroy their fuel source."

"All right, we'll try. But first, you have to recover so you can go with us."

"No! You don't understand! They're hunting us right now! They'll probably be here in a few-"

**Bzzew!**

"What was that?" Luigi exclaimed.

"I was...Shroob gunfire. Go! Run! Save yourselves. You have to stop the Shroobs from ruining our past!"

"What about you?"

"I'm as good as dead anyways...leave me!"

"Wait!" Luigi said. "How did you escape from Shroob Castle?"

"I went through the sew-AUUUUUGH!"

The brothers' Toad friend was turned into a pile of ashes before them. Some might say it was magic. It was anything but. It was war. The brothers turned and ran deeper into the forest, silently mourning the brave Toad. His remains would probably be fueling a Shroob ship soon enough. They needed to put an end to the madness.

The only thing they could do was run deeper into the forest and try to find this infernal factory. Their only comfort was that the Shroobs didn't know they were there...yet. They ran into another clearing and Luigi immediately stooped to pick up 6 Bro Flowers he saw on the ground.

"Who knows," he said. "We may need them."

Sure enough, out of nowhere leaped 2 Koopeleons.

Mario instantly ran up to one of them and threw it into his buddy. Mario then grabbed the first Koopeleon and smashed it into the ground, feeling it go limp. Then Luigi punched at the other one's face.

"Owww!!!"

"Oh shut up, you baby."

The Koopeleon turned invisible and crept silently toward Luigi.

"Luigi, move!" Mario shouted as Luigi jumped aside.

The invisible Koopeleon scampered back in retreat.

"Where is it?" Mario shouted.

"Right...there." Luigi pointed.

Mario kicked the spot that Luigi pointed to and they both heard a scream as something solid flew through the air, away from them.

"Now that that's over with..." Mario said. "Let's take a looksee."

There was a stump in this new clearing, so both brothers decided to toss the babies up again.

"Look out for any more of those creepy lizards." Luigi said.

Inside the tree, the babies found 100 coins and 3 Green Shells.

"Sweet!" the older brothers exclaimed when the babies jumped back out.

They continued along the clearing and saw that an earthen ramp led down to another clearing. They took it and found 3 more Bro Flowers on the trail. Before they could even stand back up, the Brothers were face-to-face with some sort of ghost, and 2 more Koopeleons. Mario and Luigi each grabbed a Koopeleon and smashed them against the ghost-thing, hearing cries of pain from each.

The ghost-thing then split in two and ran at each brother. One ghost was an illusion. But which one?

Luigi's was.

Mario jumped just a little too late, and got tackled by the ghost. He slammed onto the dirt, groaning.

"I never knew ghosts could be so solid..."

"Come on, get up!"

Mario and Luigi each took a Koopeleon and grappled them to the ground. The brothers then shoved away the unconcious lizards and the ghost came at them again.

This time Luigi was too slow.

"OOOF!" he grunted as the solid ghost tackled him.

While the ghost was chuckling to himself, Mario ran up to it and his mini-self punched the ghost right in the eye.

"EEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!" it screamed as it fled into the forest.

"Phew." Mario sighed. "Told you it was solid."

The brothers found another stump on this clearing and threw the babies inside. What the babies found wasn't as pleasant as a lot of coins.

A hideous thing came running at them. It was a walking Piranha Plant with a pipe around it's waist. I guess old habits die hard.

Both babies jumped on top of the pipe and started hitting the thing. It shook the brothers off, and then it stretched up into the sky and shot a fireball down at baby Luigi. The little guy dodged the fireball, but the stump of the tree was soon blazing. The brothers had to take care of this thing quick. Both brothers jumped back on the thing and continued hitting. It threw the brothers off again and managed to spit out another fireball...except this one hit it's mark.

Baby Luigi screamed and fell to the ground, a big burn across his chest. Outside of the stump, Mario saw his brother disappear out of thin air as the tree stump burned.

"Luigi!"

Inside the stump, little Baby Mario jumped at the plant and clawed and screamed at it mercilessly. He was angry at the thing for making his brother like that. The plant kept screaming until it finally went limp and died. Luigi was avenged. Luckily Mario could do something about him.

The little tyke pulled out a Mushroom and managed to stuff it all into his brother's mouth. Slowly, very slowly, Luigi's wound began to disappear, and Luigi was able to recover. As that happened, the older Luigi reappeared by Mario outside the stump.

"Luigi!" he shouted. "What happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened?" he replied. "Oh! The stump's burning! Where are the babies?"

Just as he said that, both little brothers popped out of the tree, safe.

"What did you guys do to the tree?" Mario asked.

The babies just shrugged. The older brothers would never find out. Then Baby Mario held out a Bro Flower.

"Well I guess it wasn't for nothing." Luigi said.

Both brothers continued down another ramp and onto a narrow path that led deeper into the forest.

"I wonder where that factory is." Mario wondered.

"You're asking me like I know!"

The brothers weren't paying attention to what was creeping towards them. For the record, it was another ghost and 3 Koopeleons.

The ghost ran to Luigi and tackled him to the ground. Mario and baby Mario immediately took on two of the Koopeleons, one of whom turned invisible and rushed at Mario. Mario sidestepped him and punched him into next Sunday, while he landed a drop kick on another Koopeleon.

Luigi kicked the ghost off of him and socked it into a tree, while both brothers threw the last Koopeleon into the woods.

"That's that." he said. "Let's keep going. We have to find the-"

"There they are!"

"Did you hear that, Luigi?"

"Yeah...sounded like...Shroob-talk."

Both brothers looked back to see that the Shroobs had entered the clearing two ramps above them.

"I guess they did know we were here." Luigi said. "Run!"

It was now a chase. The brothers ran along the path until they came to another clearing...and immediately got jumped by another ghost and Koopeleon team.

"Didn't we just leave this party?"

All three Koopeleons turned invisible and rushed at the brothers.

"We know this drill!" Mario yelled as he punched two of the unseeable Koopeleons into the air. Luigi took one, and while he wasn't looking, the ghost tackled him for the third time. Mario wrestled the ghost off of Luigi and threw him into the trees while Luigi kicked the Koopeleon away from him.

Both brothers were exhausted, but they had to keep their cool. The Shroobs were right behind them. There was a cliff to one side overlooking another clearing, and a thick grove of trees on the other side. By the trees there was a sign covered with graffiti.

Mario ran up to it and read it.

"Oh no." he said as he looked up at the trees and the prickly vines and creepers criss-crossing in front of the sign.

"What is it?" Luigi asked. "What does it say?"

"It says 'Vim Factory', and there's no way to get there!"

"Wow...no one's been here in a long time!"

"Or maybe they're all just cooped up in there, waiting for us."

"Either way, we have to find a way around this don't we?"

"Yeah, Luigi, we do. Let's go in that clearing over there and see if there's a detour."

Both brothers heard the crashing of things moving along the path behind them. Shroobs.

"Let's try to find this detour quickly, alright?"

They both took stone steps down into the clearing and saw that a path went to their right.

"Let's go that-"

Before Mario could finish his sentence, the brother were jumped again by the same group of four.

"Here we go again!" The ghost split itself and went towards Luigi. Unfortunately, he thought it would go for Mario for once. The ghost hit him. Hard.

Luigi slammed to the forest floor and tried to roll away as the ghost beat him incessantly.

Mario rolled the ghost off of him and slammed it into a Koopeleon, killing both. He then took both of the remaining lizards and threw them into the wilderness.

Mario ran to Luigi, who remained on the ground.

"Ahhh!" he yelled. "I think I broke a rib!"

Lucky enough, the brothers still had Mushrooms left. With these things, they were unstoppable. In no time Luigi was up and walking again. They continued along the path and came to another clearing with a dead end. There was no way around the thick trees blocking the factory. Or was there? Luigi picked up five coins on the ground as Mario ran up to a new sign and read:

"Something is calling you...calling from within the stump..."

"Look a this place! What is it supposed to mean?"

The clearing had six very tall hollow trees in a circle, with six floating glass boxes by each tree. One big glass box was in the center.

"I think they're...containers. But for what?"

"All I know is that if the Shroobs corner us here, we're never getting out!"

"Hey, wait! There's a stump! A normal one!" Luigi exclaimed. "We gotta check it out! The sign, remember?"

Both brothers tossed the babies up into the stump, and the babies landed inside it. The brothers stared in awe through a hole big enough to crawl through in the base of the stump. They went inside and saw that there was a tunnel system built underground, and they wer in it. But what could it mean? They went down a few steps and rounded a corner, then saw a small glass box with a ball of fire inside it. Baby Mario looked up and saw that there was a long tube thing right above the box.

The tree. The glass box outside. Could he transfer this fire to the one outside? He jumped up and hit the fiery box. Up top, the brothers watched as fire spouted out of the nearest tree and into the first box.

"Hey..." Luigi said. "Do you think..."

"Yeah...the babies."

One down, five to go. The babies had to somehow get all the fire up to the surface. For what reason...they didn't know yet.

But it would never happen if the babies didn't survive down there.

3 Koopeleons leaped out of the shadows of the tunnel and at the babies.

Both kids each grabbed Green Shells and threw them at the first two Koopeleons, knocking them out. Then they grabbed a Bro Flower and enjoyed watching the last one go up in flames.

Wth a hearty "Yay!", the brothers continued through the cavern.

They finally came to another fire block and punched the fire out of the tree. Only four more to go. They went on, up toward the third tree. As they rounded the corner of the third box, they came face to face with another Piranha Plant! They didn't make the same mistake twice. Both brothers immediately began rebounding Green Shells, nailing the thing countless times. They then went in for the kill, using their little fists to cause the plant multiple bruises.

After the thing was done for the brothers walked over to the third box and hit it. They were halfway done.

The brothers continued their journey and neared the fourth box of fire. Mario walked up to it and was about to punch it when out of the shadows came another Piranha Plant. Mario ran around the back of the plant and pushed it over, and then Luigi whipped a Green Shell at it's skull. With a sickening crack, the thing fell limp, and the brothers pushed the fourth fire out of the box.

The last two boxes were unguarded. The brothers paid a visit to both and then returnd to the stump, and the surface. All six fires were now in similar small boxes surrounding the big box in the center.

"All right, you smart little buggers...now what?"

The Shroobs had entered the clearing with the grove of trees and the cliff.

"They must be trying to get through to the Factory. Into the grove!"

The Shroobs are smaller creatures than humans, so they could fit into the narrow space. They didn't realize, however, that the brothers couldn't.

Baby Mario whined and pointed to the small blocks. The older brothers needed to hit the blocks again. Mario and Luigi went around the trees, hitting all of the blocks. As they hit each block, the fire flew into the big block, getting bigger with each new fire. Soon enough, each fire was inside the big box, and there was now a big fire blazing inside it.

The brothers finally realized where this might be going. They had made a crude missile. A fire missile. They could hit this block and the fire inside might launch anywhere...but they knew where it would land. The grove. It was the only way for them to get through. This hadn't been an accident. The grove was put in place to keep people out. Good thing they knew how to get in. The brothers hit the block, and soon the grove was on fire.

All four brothers ran back to the other clearing and scrambled up the cliff to see...chaos. The thicket of trees was blazing, and burning Shroobs were running out of the grove, screaming and rollling around on the forest floor, trying to put out the flames. It was useless. They were all dead, and if not, then they soon would be. At least the brothers weren't running for their lives anymore. Their pursuers were gone.

And better yet, the grove was gone. They could continue to the Factory. They walked through the burned grove and into a small dock of sorts. Another pier stretched over more murky water, and on the pier was a pipe.

"Careful..." Mario said. "This one could be just as rotten. I'll go first."

Mario carefully stepped onto the pier and quickly discovered that they weren't going to fall. The pier was solid. It was new wood, which meant that it was built recently.

"I think that this is it." Luigi siad. "The factory must be underwater. Very sneaky."

"Myabe, but-"

**Bzzew!**

"Duck!" Mario yelled as 3 Shroobs ran out onto the path.

"These guys must have survived the fire." Luigi said. "Quick! Into the pipe!"

Mario and Luigi entered the pipe and sank down...but the babies tripped on one of the wooden stairs and tumbled into the water. Without their older selves.

Luckily the Shroobs didn't see them. They thought that the threat was gone, and they headed back the way they had come.

On the pipe ride down...

"What do you mean you didn't have the babies?!" Mario yelled. "Are they still out there?"

"Well...I guess so! At least they're not dead, because we wouldn't be here if they were! We'll just wait a little while and then go back up and get them. They're probably hiding from the Shroobs."

Mario hoped he was right.

After the beating they had taken, Bowser just wanted to die. He and Kamek were back in their cells on the Shroob planet, with dozens of cuts all over their stomachs. It was hopeless. There was no way out of there. And how were they even supposed to get back home, anyways? Bowser hoped that the next time they tortured them would be the last.

He had spent a lot of his jail time thinking about what he might have done to hurt the Shroobs. The only thing that he thought of was crashing his ship into the castle...so what had he done? He wished that he had his treasure back.

His treasure.

That was it.

One day he had found a piece of shiny glass on the front steps of his castle. He picked it up, and it made him feel...powerful. He held it closely when he was sad, and sometimes it even spoke to him. It spoke of returning, of being brought back. Bowser didn't even think it knew that he had it.

Then it began to speak of strange things...things that frightened Bowser. He locked it up somewhere in his castle, and then managed to put the thing out of his mind.

That was it. It must have been something belonging to the Shroobs. They probably had it now...and they were punishing him and Kamek for having it. If they wanted it, then Bowser knew that it couldn't be good for them to have it. So he made a vow to himself right then and there that he would get his treasure back.

He had to make plans to escape. He needed to stop the Shroobs. It was on.

"My Princess, I'm afraid that the advance ground troops perished because of a mysterious fire in the forest."

"The troops that set out to bring back that Toad? How did he manage to stop them?"

"Oh, it was not he, my Princess. He is dead and accounted for. Those brothers killed them somehow. After all, their purpose was to capture the Toad. I knew they wouldn't defeat Mario and Luigi. That is what my men are for. They are heading towards the new pier as we speak."

"You must not let them enter the Factory...have they learned our purpose here?"

"I believe they have, Princess. That pesky Toad made sure of that. They were headed towards the factory. They know what it is."

"Stop them before they find the place. They cannot be allowed to enter. Have you sensed any sign of more of the Star?"

"No, my Princess. I have only sensed a little; the fraction of what they already have. They do not have it, and we have not missed it, either."

"Well, make sure that you stop them. The last thing we need is for them to actually succeed in destroying the Vim."

"Yes, my Princess. Now, I must join my troops."

Baby Mario and Luigi were waiting in the water...for what? They couldn't climb up the pipe by themselves, and those Shroobs might still be there. They didn't have to worry about that much longer.

Both brothers heard them before they arrived. Shroobs. Lots of them. They came marching into the clearing, 30 of them. They were headed toward the pipe. Toward their older selves.

The babies watched hopelessly as the Shroobs all went down the pipe, one by one...after they were all gone, the babies knew what they had to do. They climbed out of the water and ran off towards the clearing with the cliff.

Mario and Luigi stepped out of the pipe and onto the forest floor once more.

"This isn't the factory..." Luigi muttered.

"We must have been transported to another part of the forest. Come on, let's go back for the babies!"

The brothers ran back towards the pipe and heard sounds inside of it.

"Uh...that sounds like Shroobs."

"More?"

"Yeah." Luigi replied. "A lot."

"We'll have to come back for them later. We're not gone yet! Come on!"

Luckily for the brothers, the 30 Shroobs were stuck inside the pipe; half by the pier, half already deeper in the forest. The brothers ran up several stone steps and arrived at yet another clearing.

From a nearby tree jumped out a Piranha Plant creature!

"Ahhhhhhh!"

That was Luigi.

Both brothers leaped into battle, Mario lifting up the pipe while Luigi kicked at the thing. They had done this before...about 20 years ago. Soon enough the thing crumpled, and the brothers sighed.

"We're not done yet."

They did, however, find 100 coins on the path.

"Sweet! Lunch!" Luigi exclaimed.

The brothers saw a couple of paths: one to the left, and two leading north. Their instincts told them to go north. Sometimes instinct can be wrong.

Two ghosts and a Piranha Plant leaped out of the shadows.

Both ghosts went to tackle Mario. He grabbed one and threw it into the other, knocking them both down. Luigi then went for the Piranha Plant, and stuck a Bro Flower right in it's mouth.

The brothers circled around and saw that both paths leading north were connected.

"I guess we picked the unlucky-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the brothers were jumped by no more than 6 Koopeleons.

"Never mind."

"This'll be easy, bro!" Luigi said as he grabbed a Bro Flower.

He began torching the Koopeleons, and Mario did the same. Soon enough, all six lizards were on the ground, smoking and charred.

"All right, let's go forward!"

And they did. They continued along the north path and came upon...the Vim Factory. There it was, right in front of them. The monstrous red building was sitting on the murky water, and there were dozens of Shroob-F-Os sitting parked on top of it. Two huge Shroob claws stood beside the water, where there were metal disks serving as a walkway to the big purple doors. A narrow path branched right into the forest.

Both brothers walked up to the building in awe, but they only got as far as the Shroob hands when both of them felt a big electrical charge running through their bodies. They stopped, and backed up quickly.

"We can't get in." Mario said. "All this work, and we can't get in!"

"Oh yes, you can!"

Stuffwell had an answer. He always did.

"That, my friends, is a Shroob force field."

"Really?" was Luigi's sarcastic remark. "I thought it was an ice cream machine!"

"Surprisingly, it's not. As you may have noticed, there are paths leading deeper into the forest...and those paths lead to two generators for this shield. If you want to get inside there...you're going to have to disable both generators. Oh...and I might hurry...our alien friends are going to be blasting apart Koopeleons by the dozen in the clearing behind you any minute now."

Mario and Luigi got the message. They needed to separate to do this quickly.

"Luigi, you go down this path here and try to find a generator." Mario said. "I'll try to go back and sneak through that left path to find the other one."

Mario watched as his brother ran deeper into the forest, along the path. With only a little hesitation, Mario ran back the way they came. He hoped this wasn't a bad idea. He ran across the clearing and ducked into the left path just as Shroobs ran up the stone stairs.

"There's one of them!"

"What should we do, Commander?"

"Ten of you, go after the red one...the other twenty...come with me! We're going to the factory."

Mario ran out onto a stone platform and had to stop short of falling. Right in front of him was a very large spike pit. He heard the Shroobs coming behind him and quickly ran into the trees. All of the Shroobs came rushing into the clearing at once...and over the edge of the cliff. They ddin't even know what hit them as they were all skewered by the spikes.

Ten down, twenty to go.

Mario couldn't cross the spike pit by himself...so all he could do was think. How could he get across?

Luigi had an easier answer. We'll get to that in a minute. He ran onto his path, and into a new clearing...and got jumped by a ghost and two Piranha Plants. He landed a roundhouse kick to the ghost's face, and the ghost flew over some kind of cliff. Then he smashed both Piranha Plants out of their pipes, and they scampered away in embarrassment.

He stooped to the ground to pick up 5 coins and saw what was beyond the cliff. It was a big ol' fashioned spike pit. He also saw a sign next to the pit, and a floating wooden platform over the pit.

The sign read: Travel Advisory: Ride platform over the thorny pit to cross to the other side. -Toadwood Ranger Society

Sure enough, when Luigi stepped on the platform, it began to move towards the other piece of land. He was going somewhere. He finally reached the other piece of land and was immediately jumped by more foes: two Piranhas and a ghost. He grabbed the ghost and chucked him onto the spikes, skewering him. One plant spit out a fireball and scorched Luigi's arm, making him cry in pain. But he managed to kick the plant into the woods. He then took a Bro Flower and threw it at the last Piranha like a grenade.

Luigi, safe once again, ate a Mushroom to heal the burn.

"We really are invincible." he said.

When he stepped off the platform, it returned to it's original position...ready to pick up more passengers. Ten in fact.

"You ten, go along that path there...the green one must have gone that way. The rest of us...we're going inside. Come on." The remaining 10 Shroobs ran through the force field and inside the factory, to warn the people inside of the brothers.

"Oh come on!" Luigi said as he saw the Shroobs. He looked around and saw that a wooden bridge was hanging over a murky river. It was the only way to go. So he took it.

Mario was waiting for Luigi. Once Luigi came back and saw that the shield was still operational, he would come here and help Mario get to the other generator. He just had to wait. Hopefully no more Shroobs would be sent.

Luigi made it across the bridge, but just as he stepped off of it, he realized that he needed a way to slow the Shroobs down. He took out a Bro Flower that he found on the ground and torched the ropes holding the bridge up. The thing collapsed into the water, and disappeared into the current. Luigi saw the glint of loot on the ground and picked up 3 more Bro Flowers, 2 Green Shells, and 100 coins.

As he looked up to see if there was any more loot, he saw...the generator. It was a totem pole of metal Shroob heads, with one big black antenna on top. He had no doubt that it was the generator. Now how to destroy it? Or disable it? He saw a colorful button that was red, green, blue, and yellow on the generator and hit it.

Almost instantly the top of the antenna sparked with electricity and a big pink ball shot out of it. It was headed toward the factory.

Luigi had to hope that it would disable one hand, and part of the shield. Now he had to get back to Mario. He surely would be done by now, and he could hear the Shroobs splashing in the river.

The river.

"Oh come on, Luigi!" he exclaimed. "The one time you think you're doing something right, you mess up!"

Luigi couldn't go back because there was no bridge. He had made sure of that. He could only go forward, deeper into the forest. Luckily for him, there was a path leading north...away from the factory. But it was the only way he could go. The Shroobs would use some kind of technology and get out of the water, so he needed to hurry.

He went along the path, and was about to make a right turn into the forest when...he was jumped by 3 ghosts and a Piranha Plant. All three ghosts tackled him at once, and the plant spit a fireball. Luigi jumped out of the way and the fireabll hit the three ghosts, turning them all to burnt...ghost. Then he threw a Green Shell at the Piranha Plant. It hit it's mark, and Luigi was on his way forward.

Before he could even walk a yard, two more Piranhas and a ghost jumped him. The ghost made a move to tackle him, and Luigi Jumped over him and slammed him into the ground. The plants both spit fire at him, but Luigi managed to barely dodge both bursts. He then picked up one pipe and slammed it into the other, cracking both pipes.

He turned another corner, and came face-to-face with another spike pit. And another platform. He stepped on the platform and turned it on right when he heard a scream of agony. The Shroobs must have found their wrecked generator. He hoped they couldn't turn it back on.

He got the thing working and headed left. Soon he came upon a dead end...but there was a button there. He curiously pressed the button, and heard the earth rumble. After about 2 seconds, it stopped. What was it? He decided to go back to where he found the platform, as he could go nowhere else.

When he got back, he found that a stone platform had risen up out of the ground next to a cliff, making the cliff climbable. He climbed up and found a path leading deeper into the forest. He looked back and saw the Shroobs running towards him from the generator clearing. They were angry. He had to go. Now.

He went into another clearing...and stopped short. Right in front of him was the other generator. Still active. What had happened to Mario? He would soon find out.

Mario had heard the Shroob scream.

"Luigi must have gotten the first generator...he'll be here soon. Then we can get the other one. Wherever it is."

Luigi picked up 101 coins, a Mushroom, and a rare One-Up Mushroom before walking over to the generator. He decided that he would get this one and then find Mario. He quickly strode over to the generator and pressed the button, sending the ball of electricity to destroy the shield. Now to find Mario.

He walked down a path heading south, which he realized was back toward the Factory. When he got to yet another new clearing, he found that this one was almost completely covered in a spike pit. He looked across the long expanse and saw a red figure curled up into a ball on the far side. Mario. He had found him. Mario must not have gotten very far in his quest...because the platform was on Luigi's side. Just then Luigi heard another scream. The Shroobs were closer than he thought. They knew the shield was destroyed. They were coming.

Luigi ran onto the platform and yelled, "Mario! Over here! I'm coming!"

The other brother looked over to Luigi and smiled...then frowned. Shroobs were rushing toward him from behind.

"Watch out, Luigi!"

"I know!"

Luigi hit the 'Go' switch for the platform. It didn't move. He flicked the switch on and off, while the Shroobs ran closer. Then he saw it. The navigation lever was missing. That must be why it didn't work, and why it didn't return to Mario's side after it had delivered it's last passenger. Somebody didn't want followers. It didn't matter. That was then. This is now. The Shroobs were coming, and Luigi could do nothing about it.

The babies were on top of one of the glass boxes in the clearing with the missile-maker. They were looking for their brothers. They found them. About a mile away from them, Baby Mario saw his older brother being cornered by Shroobs...right in front of a very large spike pit. He knew what he had to do. Him and Luigi were already prepared. He gave Baby Luigi a thumbs-up, and the little Luigi climbed up onto stacked stones underneath the big box...and jumped up, hitting the second fire-missile.

Needless to say...it hit it's mark.

The big inferno went flying toward the ten Shroobs just as Luigi was about to make a faceplant in some spikes. The blaze landed right on the Shroobs, who all burst into flame. They were done for. Twenty down, ten to go. And now they could enter the Factory.

But first, they needed to get back their little buddies. Luigi smiled to himself, for only the babies could have saved them. They were Mario and Luigi, after all. Luigi found the navigation handle among the ashes of the dead Shroobs, and stuck it back on the platform.

He started the thing up and drove over to Mario, then hopped onto the forest floor again.

"Boy, is it good to see you! You almost died!"

"The babies made sure I didn't. They probably made another fire-missile."

"So I'm guessing you got both generators?"

"Yeah...we can get the babies and then go in the Factory." They headed back out to the clearing with three paths, and saw...the babies climbing up the steps towards them!

"Hey you guys! You saved Luigi! Awesome! Maybe they really are us..."

"Yeah...great job guys...you're turning out to be real heroes. Come on...the shield is down. Let's go in!"

The four brothers went back to the entrance of the Factory and hopped across the metal disks. Soon enough, they were staring at a big glass Shroob for a door.

"So...now what?"

Just as Luigi said that, the Shroob split in half and they saw the inside.

"Whoa..."

"Yeah, whoa...come on. We gotta stop the Shroobs. Once and for all. What are we waiting for?"

Next time on...Mario and Luigi: Parters in Time:

The brothers have to jaunt through the perilous Vim Factory, looking for this machine that makes Vim and trying to find a way to destroy it...and then what? Maybe there is a Shard in the Factory, because there wasn't one in the forest. They could cripple the Shroobs by taking away their fuel source, and come one step closer to finding their weakness. But is it ever that easy? No. It never is. In Chapter 6: The Horror Within

**Author's Note:**

**Hello there, faithful readers. We're at the end of another chapter. I want to give you the same formula of read and review. It would be greatly appreciated. I spent the better part of my weekend trying to put this up for my one-year anniversary with FanFiction, and also...my story is finally a quarter done. Heres to the next five chapters, and I hope you've enjoyed the ride...so far.**


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